 The wheel was fully constructed and assembled at the Butterley Engineering plant in Ripley , Derbyshire . The structure was then dismantled in the summer of 2001 , and transported on 35 lorry loads to Falkirk , before being reassembled into five sections on the ground and lifted into place . Construction of the canal required 250 @,@ 000 cubic metres ( 8 @,@ 800 @,@ 000 cu ft ) of excavation , a 160 @-@ metre ( 520 ft ) canal tunnel of 8 metres ( 26 ft ) diameter , aqueducts of 20 metres ( 66 ft ) and 120 metres ( 390 ft ) , three set of locks and a number of bridges , as well as 600 metres ( 2 @,@ 000 ft ) of access roads . The 180 metres ( 590 ft ) Rough Castle Tunnel was driven in three stages , with the two upper quarters being drilled with a standard excavator before the lower half was dug using a modified road <unk> in 100 millimetres ( 3 @.@ 9 in ) layers . This technique was 15 per cent cheaper and reduced the build time of the tunnel by two weeks . 
