Surreal Appeal of the Falkirk Wheel
quazen.com
quazen.com
The wheel is quicker than a series of locks (not important for leisure use) more expensive to build but it's probably cheaper to maintain than 20 locks.
I think the most efficient system to build and use would be a "bucket" and pulley’s attacked to a counter weight. Granted it would have far less summitry and not look as cool. The main advantage to locks is they scale really well but they use more water.
PS: I can't help but wonder how they counterbalance the buoyancy when one end dips into the water. Those curved tips might help and I can world out the geometry in my head but I think they just brute force it.
And it's in the Geek Atlas. It's wonderful. Art, engineering and education.
Search for Falkirk and you'll find it's been mentioned here before.
The only "demonstration of Archimedes principle" involved is that boats that float in water float in water.
It is seriously cool though.
Archimedes' principle says that the weight of water displaced by a floating object equals the weight of the object. The Falkirk wheel exploits this in a design-critical fashion. The chambers are full to the brim of water. When a boat enters the chamber, some of that water is displaced.
What's critical, though, is no matter how many boats are in a chamber, including none, the chamber still weighs the same. Hence the wheel remains balanced no matter how many boats are in it.
For those who don't know Archimedes' principle, and I've found even for many who think they do, this comes as a surprise.
"Why," they ask, "are the chambers still balanced?"
Perhaps you just think this is all obvious, in which case I concede your exceptional perception. And in my experience, exceptional it is.
Why the Falkirk Wheel remains balanced under apparently different loads is not obvious to most.
I think it's genius.