| Blackwater Reservoir | |
|---|---|
| Location | Lochaber, Highland, Scotland |
| Coordinates | |
| Lake type | reservoir |
| Basin countries | United Kingdom |
The Blackwater Reservoir is a reservoir created behind a dam in the mountains above Kinlochleven, Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. District of Lochaber The Highland Council area ( Sgìre Comhairle na Gàidhealtachd in Gaelic, s̪g̊ʲiːɾʲə kɔ Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. A lake (from Latin lacus) is a Terrain feature (or Physical feature) a body of Liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the A reservoir is most broadly a place or hollow vessel where Fluid is kept in Reserve, for later use A drainage basin is an extent of Land where Water from Rain or Snow melt drains downhill into a body of water such as a River, A dam is a barrier that divides waters. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water while other structures such as Floodgates, Levees Kinlochleven ( Ceann Loch Lìobhann in Gaelic) is a village in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland and lies at the eastern end of Loch District of Lochaber The Scottish Highlands ( Scottish Gaelic: A' Ghàidhealtachd, Scots: Hielans) include the rugged and Mountainous Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. At over 914 m long, the dam is the longest in the Highlands.
The hydroelectric scheme was constructed in the early 1900s for the British Aluminium Company (later: British Alcan) for the purpose of smelting aluminium and was designed by engineers Patrick Meik and Charles Meik. Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by Hydropower, ie the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling water The aluminium producer British Aluminium Ltd was originally formed as the British Aluminium Company Ltd on 7 May 1894 and was subsequently known as British Alcan Aluminium Patrick Meik (born? - died 1910 was an English Engineer and part of a minor engineering dynasty Charles Meik (born? - 1923 was an English Engineer and part of a minor engineering dynasty Chief assistant resident engineer was William Halcrow. Sir William Halcrow (July 1883 - 1958 was one of the most notable English Civil engineers of the 20th century particularly renowned for his expertise in
The dam, at 27 m high, was built at an elevation of over 305 m in rugged and almost inaccessible terrain, and involved the construction of some 6 km of concrete aqueduct and nearly 13 km of steel pipe. Concrete is a construction material composed of Cement (commonly Portland cement) as well as other cementitious materials such as Fly ash and Slag An aqueduct is an artificial channel that is constructed to convey water from one location to another Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0
The dam was built using hand tools, without the benefit of mechanical earth moving machinery, and has been described as the last major creation of the traditional 'navvy' whose activities in the construction of canals and railways left an indelible mark on the British countryside. Navvy is a shorter form of navigational engineer ( USA) or navigator ( UK) and is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working
The power house and aluminium smelting plant were situated in Kinlochleven, which is adjacient to the sea loch Loch Leven.
In recent years the smelting works has closed and has mostly been demolished albeit that a few buildings remain and have been given over to other uses, including a climbing wall which - unusually - has a refridgerated face so that people can practice ice climbing.
The powerstation has been converted to produce electricity for public supply, consequently the dam, penstocks and other works associated with it remain in use.
On a sad note a number of workers lost their lives constructing the dam; their graves, which are marked by concrete markers, are close to the dam.
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