At the north end of Bullbridge Aqueduct were the Butterley Company’s lime kilns and limestone loading wharf, built at the same time as the canal. Limestone was brought down the ‘Butterley Gangroad’ (a tramway) from Crich to the wharf where some was burnt and some was loaded straight onto boats for transport to the Butterley Co’s works above Butterley Tunnel.
The aqueduct, or extended embankment, crossed the Amber Valley and included openings for a minor road (today, Drovers Way), the River Amber, and the turnpike road (today the A610). Built for stagecoaches and carts, the arch allowing the turnpike road to pass did not suit modern transport requirements but it lasted until 1968 before it was demolished, sadly now leaving a ‘gap’ in the embankment.
When George Stephenson was building his North Midland Railway from Derby to Leeds, it had to pass under the canal here at Bullbridge. As the canal was there ‘first’, the Cromford Canal Company could dictate the terms for the construction of the railway, and stipulated that canal traffic should not be delayed. The railway company had Butterley iron works produce a cast iron tank 150ft long, 9ft wide and 6ft deep.
It was conveyed to Bullbridge, presumably floating in the canal, in five parts and, starting at midnight on Saturday 2 March 1839, the parts were assembled, floated into position and sunk into place within twenty-four hours.
Traffic on the canal was not disrupted as it was normally closed on Sundays. The bridge for the railway was subsequently dug out beneath the trough.
This aqueduct was demolished at the same time as the road aqueduct.