BIRMINGHAM CANAL NAVIGATION HORSELEY BRIDGES 1828-29 N52o 29' 50.01" and N52o 29' 7.7"
Thomas Telford was commissioned to improve James Brindley's 1770's Birmingham Canal which had been built following the contour lines for ease of construction and fewer locks. Telford shortened the length of the canal by cutting off some loops of the original route and adding locks in the cuttings. In doing so, he needed to bridge the resulting junctions as well as take the tow path over new locks supply outflows which maintained the water level. He designed a basic canal bridge for the new junctions which the Horseley Iron Works cast for him. Two examples occur on the south side of the canal between Rabone Junction (aka Smethwick Junction) and the Engine Arm Aqueduct on the lower level new canal branch.