Six great feats of Scottish engineering

Opened in 1890, the Forth Railway Bridge is 1.6 miles long and connects Edinburgh with Fife.
It was, at one point, the longest single cantilever bridge in the world until 1917 when it was outdone by Quebec Bridge.
Over 4,600 workers were employed in the building of the bridge at its peak. Research has revealed that 98 people died and 450 were injured during the course of its construction.

The Bell Rock Lighthouse is the world's oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse.
Built by Robert Stevenson , it stands 11 miles out from Arbroath in the North Sea. The 35 metre high lighthouse was constructed between 1807 and 1810 on the Bell Rock which lies just below the surface and is visible only at low tide.
Around 60 men were involved in its construction with the majority living on a ship moored one mile off from the construction site.
A stilt structure was also built on the rock to house workers.

James Watt's (1736-1819) development of the steam engine acted as a catalyst to the industrial revolution.
Skipping a seven-year shipyard apprenticeship, Watt was in 1756 taken on as an instrument-maker by Glasgow University after demonstrating his grasp of engineering.
After early successes in building church organs from scratch - apparently mastering the science of sound and tone in a short space of frenzied research - Watt turned his attention to steam as a means of propulsion, following the advice of his colleague, Professor Joseph Black.
Watt made his name by taking apart an existing Newcomen engine. Using his newly discovered properties of latent heat - and after a revelation on the golf course on Glasgow Green - he added an extra chamber to ensure a more efficient production of heat and effectively harnassing steam.

The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift which connects the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. The two canals were previously connected by a series of 11 locks, but by the 1930s these had fallen into disuse, were filled in and the land built upon. The Falkirk Wheel was opened in 2002 at a cost of 17.5 million. The wheel consists of two opposing arms which extend 15 metres beyond the central axle and take the shape of a double-headed axe. The wheel is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world.
Earlier this year is was revealed that the wheel - one of Scotland's top tourist attractions - is set for a mini revolution as a £1million programme to refurbish the world’s only rotating boat lift gets underway.
The project will see the Wheel refurbished inside and out, with the existing visitor centre, trip boats, conference rooms and activity hub refreshed with new branding, signage and interpretation celebrating the engineering behind the iconic structure.

The Forth and Clyde Canal connects the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. The canal is 35 miles long and its eastern end is connected to the River Forth by a short stretch of the River Carron near Grangemouth. It was designed by John Smeaton and completed in 1790. In 1963 the canal was closed and became disused and semi-derelict. It was regenerated as as part of the Millenium celebrations in 2000 with National Lottery funds.

The Caledonian Canal connects Inverness on the east coast of Scotland with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William. It was constructed in the early nineteenth century by engineer Thomas Telford. The canal runs some 62 miles and only one third of its entire length is man-made.
The rest of the route is naturally made up by Loch Dochfour, Loch Ness, Loch Oich and Loch Lochy.