Put a boat into a water-filled lift and its total weight stays the same. At Scotland’s Falkirk Wheel, the boat pushes out its own weight in water, keeping the two gondolas balanced.

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Put a boat in this lift, and the total weight stays the same. It pushes water back into the canal. That displaced water weighs exactly as much as the boat. More boat, less water. The same total weight. That's how Scotland's Falkirk Wheel stays balanced. But why lift boats at all? Two canals needed reconnecting, thirty-five metres apart in height. Their old staircase of eleven locks had been dismantled. With the gates closed, one balanced tank rises as the other falls. Gears keep the tanks level. Motors power the turn. The wheel lifts the boat twenty-four metres to an elevated waterway. Two more locks take it the rest of the way to the Union Canal. The boat can continue its journey. The missing link is restored. Follow for more.