Wonder of ScienceTimelapse of the Falkirk Wheel in action; the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world.
Video Credit: David Iliff / CC BY-SA 3.0
Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkirk_Wheel
CB Wright@wonderofscience it very cool but it also hurts my brain when I try to comprehend it. It seems as if there's enough room in the path leading up to the wheel for a single boat going in a single direction, and the picture shows a boat departing on both top in bottom, going in opposite directions.
So... how do they accommodate boats exiting the top wheel _and_ entering the top wheel? It doesn't look like there's enough room.
Calum@ubersoft @wonderofscience Boats have to book a time slot 24 hours in advance, and stay in contact as they're approaching, so there should never be more boats waiting than the lift can accommodate (two large ones, or up to 8 small ones). They do have to pass through the tunnel at the top one at a time, though.
If you look at the satellite view, there are wider stretches of canal nearby where additional boats can stop and wait if required.
@scottishwildcat @wonderofscience Thank you for the additional information!
Sal De Gusto@scottishwildcat @ubersoft @wonderofscience Please tell me the Mini Golf Course has a hole based on a Mini Falkirk Wheel.
Jeff Grigg@goodthinking @scottishwildcat @ubersoft @wonderofscience
Probably not as dynamic as one might hope. But I think we can say yes.
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Kevin Karhan 
@scottishwildcat @ubersoft @wonderofscience
Funfact: it doesn't require to have "symmetrical travel" to function but streamlining and ordering boats in advance makes shure traffic flows way more smoothly and they're faster at loading & unloading.
It's definitely an upgrade compared to the previous system of multiple gates that took 24hrs to pass through...
Plus they could in theory do it completely passive if the were to like remove a few hundred liters or a few cubic metres at the bottom one and/or adding them up top so that it would swing by itself, tho that would have the foreseeable problem of lateral forces so it's not done for safety reasons...
https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/112369656308774911
Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])
@[email protected] Yeah, that thing is cool as it's essentially doing a "load swap"... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHO9gARac-w video,via @[email protected]