Blackwater Reservoir
Blackwater Reservoir | |
---|---|
Location | Lochaber, Highland, Scotland |
Coordinates | 56°41′N 4°46′W / 56.683°N 4.767°W |
Lake type | Reservoir |
Basin countries | Scotland |
The Blackwater Reservoir is a reservoir created behind a dam in the mountains above Kinlochleven, Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. The dam is 914 metres (2,999 ft) long, the longest in the Highlands.
The hydroelectric scheme was constructed in the early 1900s for the British Aluminium Company for the purpose of smelting aluminium and was designed by engineers Patrick Meik and Charles Meik. Chief assistant resident engineer was William Halcrow.
The 27 metres (89 ft) high dam was built at an elevation of about 305m in rugged terrain. 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) of
The power house and aluminium smelting plant were situated in Kinlochleven, which is adjacent to the sea loch Loch Leven.
The power station now produces electricity for the aluminium smelter in
A number of workers lost their lives constructing the dam; their graves, which are marked by concrete markers, are close to the dam.
During the First World War, German prisoners worked on laying a pipe down the hillside from the dam.[1]
See also
- List of reservoirs and dams in the United Kingdom
References
- ^ "Military #17: A Day in Kinlochleven". Retrieved 22 November 2019.
External links
- BBC One - Making Scotland's Landscape, Scotland's Water, Blackwater Dam
- Blackwater Reservoir, Kinlochleven
- Blackwater Reservoir, Dam on Canmore