It was designed by the world famous Scottish engineer Thomas Telford. It joins a series of lochs through the Great Glen - Lochs Dochfour, Ness, Oich and Lochy and at each end connects to the sea. The North Sea at Inverness via the Moray Firth and the Atlantic Ocean at Corpach near Fort William. It saves ships the risk of going around the north of Scotland via the tempestuous Pentland Firth. The staircase of locks that lifts boats between the level of Loch Ness and the level of the next section of the canal as it meanders towards Loch Oich, is one of the most striking sights to the visitor to Fort Augustus. Each lock can raise or lower a boat 8 feet (2.5 m).
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