Monkland Canal

Prior to 1743 coal had been mined in Little Govan, close to Glasgow. When that working ceased, the price of coal in Glasgow rose considerably, doubling by 1760 (from between 1/1 and 1/3 per cart of 7 cwt), to between 2/1 and 2/6. (1 cwt = 112 lb or 51 kg). Available coal was mined in Lanarkshire, but, before proper roads were built, the cost of transport by horse and cart was a significant factor. When the Trades House of Glasgow protested, one member cited another cause: that the coal masters had combined to keep prices high; he asserted that the price ought not to exceed 1/6, including 6d for cartage and tolls. The inventor and engineer James Watt said later that Monklands was "a country…

The construction process was very difficult and protracted. It was supervised by Watt, with work beginning on 26 June 1770 at Sheepford, working westward. He experienced severe weather and difficult ground, writing in December 1770: <blockquote>Notwithstanding the desperate weather I am almost constantly at the canal ... I have a hundred men at work just now, finishing a great hill we have wrought at this twelvemonth. The nastiness of our clay grounds is at present inconceivable; the quantities of rain have been beyond measure. Our canal has not stopped, but it is likely to do so, from our having expended the subscription of [£10,000] upon 7 mi of the navigation, and having about 2 mi yet…

The extension to the River Calder was to cost £2,857 5s 0d and the locks at Blackhill £3,982. The Cut of Junction was to be funded by the Forth and Clyde. The Cut of Junction was opened on 17 October 1791; at four feet deep it was the same as the Monkland Canal, although the main line of the Forth and Clyde was deeper. The extension to the Calder was completed in 1792 at a cost of £3,618 16s 3d, a 26% overspend. The Blackhill locks took much longer, being completed in August 1793 although Thomson says (1794). There were four double locks, (i.e. two chambers with three pairs of gates,) each double lock having two falls of 12 ft; the total vertical interval was 96 ft.