What is Pontcysyllte Aqueduct?
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}} {{Use British English|date=September 2014}} The '''Pontcysyllte Aqueduct''' ({{lang-cy|Traphont Ddŵr Pontcysyllte}}) is a [[canal]] [[aqueduct]] in north east [[Wales]]. It took 10 years to design and build. It was completed in 1805. It is the longest aqueduct in [[Great Britain]], and is the highest canal aqueduct in the world.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/8115190.stm|title=Aqueduct crowned world 'wonder'|date=27 June 2009|work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthnews/3321311/Pontcysyllte-Aqueduct-in-World-Heritage-bid.html|title=Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in World Heritage bid|last=Clover|first=Charles|date=11 January 2008|work=Daily Telegraph}}</ref> The 18-arched stone and [[cast iron]] structure is designed for [[Narrowboat|narrowboats]]. The aqueduct was part of a grand plan which was never completed. It was part of the proposed [[Ellesmere Canal]]. It would have been an industrial [[waterway]] which made a link between the [[River Severn]] at [[Shrewsbury]] and the [[port]] of [[Liverpool]] on the [[River Mersey]]. The westerly high-ground route across the [[Vale of Llangollen]] was chosen. A less expensive route was surveyed to the east, but the route chosen would have taken the canal through a mineral-rich area. It would have taken the canal through the coalfields of [[North-East]] [[Wales]]. However, only parts of the canal route were completed. The plan fell through because the money ran out. The [[capitalism|capitalist system]] at the time was primitive and unreliable. Most major work on the canal stopped after the completion of the [[Pontcysyllte]] Aqueduct in 1805. The structure is a Grade I [[listed building]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wrexham.gov.uk/english/planning_portal/publications/listed_build_exhib/pontcysyllte_aque.htm|title=Listed Buildings: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Trevor|website=Wrexham.gov.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013142701/http://www.wrexham.gov.u