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Rhondda Tunnel
The Rhondda Tunnel is an abandoned railway tunnel that runs between the Rhondda and the Afan Valleys in South Wales. It is long, making it the third longest railway tunnel in Wales, and the seventeenth longest in the United Kingdom. The tunnel, constructed by the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway, was engineered by Sydney William Yockney. In June 1885, construction commenced from Blaencwm in the Rhondda Valley and Blaengwynfi in the Afan Valley. Progress slowed because of manpower shortages and water seepage. After contractor, William Jones was replaced by Lucas and Aird, more men brought in and progress was restored. Completed on 2 July 1890, it has a single ventilation shaft around from its western end. It is almost feet below ground at its deepest point. The tunnel's single track line split into double track on either side of its portals. Within decades of opening, the tunnel lining became distorted because of mining activity in the close vicinity. Between 1938 and 1953, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rail Transport
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prepared flat surface, rail vehicles ( rolling stock) are directionally guided by the tracks on which they run. Tracks usually consist of steel rails, installed on sleepers (ties) set in ballast, on which the rolling stock, usually fitted with metal wheels, moves. Other variations are also possible, such as "slab track", in which the rails are fastened to a concrete foundation resting on a prepared subsurface. Rolling stock in a rail transport system generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, so passenger and freight cars (carriages and wagons) can be coupled into longer trains. The operation is carried out by a railway company, providing transport between train stations or freight customer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838 with the initial route completed between London and Bristol in 1841. It was engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who chose a broad gauge of —later slightly widened to —but, from 1854, a series of amalgamations saw it also operate standard-gauge trains; the last broad-gauge services were operated in 1892. The GWR was the only company to keep its identity through the Railways Act 1921, which amalgamated it with the remaining independent railways within its territory, and it was finally merged at the end of 1947 when it was nationalised and became the Western Region of British Railways. The GWR was called by some "God's Wonderful Railway" and by others the "Great Way Round" but it was famed as the "Holiday ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balfour Beatty
Balfour Beatty plc () is an international infrastructure group based in the United Kingdom with capabilities in construction services, support services and infrastructure investments. A constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, Balfour Beatty works across the UK, US and Hong Kong. By turnover, Balfour Beatty was ranked in 2021 as the biggest construction contractor in the United Kingdom. History Early years Balfour Beatty was formed in 1909, with a capital of £50,000. The two principals were George Balfour, a qualified mechanical and electrical engineer, and Andrew Beatty, an accountant. The two had met while working for the London branch of the New York engineers JG White & Company. Initially, the company concentrated on tramways, the first contract being to construct the Dunfermline and District Tramways that opened in November 1909 for Balfour Beatty's own subsidiary, the Fife Tramway Light and Power Company. It subsequently acquired a portfolio of electric power and tramway co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pen Y Cymoedd
Pen y Cymoedd ("Head of the Valleys") is a wind farm located between Neath and Aberdare in south Wales. It opened in 2017. History Development Natural Resources Wales signed a lease agreement with Vattenfall of Sweden and its British-based subsidiary Vattenfall United Kingdom (formerly Nuon Renewables), to develop what will be the United Kingdom's highest altitude wind farm, on a site owned by Natural Resources Wales, previously the Forestry Commission Wales. The project has seen the installation of 76 turbines with a peak power of 228 MWp, that are planned to operate for 25 years, and to generate up to 0.6 TWh/yr, an amount enough to power up to 140 000 homes with an annual consumption of 4 266 kWh. The turbine manufacturer is Siemens Wind Power. During the planning process, Vattenfall (at that time: Nuon) agreed to contribute about £1.85m annually to a community fund and to invest £3m in a habitat restoration scheme, and the following parti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afan Forest Park
The Afan Forest Park (formally and locally known as Afan Argoed Country Park) is a forest park in Britain. It is set in the Afan Valley in Neath Port Talbot, in south Wales. It is well known for its mountain biking and hiking or hillwalking trails. It is situated seven miles (11 km) from Junction 40 of the M4 (the Port Talbot turn). Trails and waymarked walks As the A4107 meanders through the steep sided valley it is easy to understand why this valley has been developed as a premier mountain bike riding venue in the United Kingdom. The Forest Park also has nine waymarked walking trails, ranging from a 30-minute amble to a 3-4 hour ramble. There are also miles of public rights of way. As well as mountain biking, there is also a network of of disused railway lines which are used for walking and cycling. These are called the Family Routes, or the Low Level Cycleway. These also form a link between the mountain bike trails. The Forest Park Centre has camping facilities, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blaengwynfi Railway Station
Blaengwynfi railway station served the village of Blaengwynfi, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, from 1890 to 1968 on the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway. History The station was opened on 10 May 1890 by the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway. It was known as Blaen Gwynfi and Blaen-Gwynfi in Bradshaw until 1936 and Blaen Gwynfy on the tickets and in the timetable until 1904. It closed to passengers on 26 February 1968 because the Rhondda Tunnel was deemed unsafe. It closed to goods on 14 December 1970. The nearby Abergwynfi railway station was on the Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran .... References External links {{s-end Disused railway stations in Neath Port Talbot Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1890 Railway stations in Great ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blaenrhondda Railway Station
Blaenrhondda railway station served the village of Blaenrhondda, in the historical county of Glamorganshire, Wales, from 1890 to 1968 on the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway. History The station was opened on 2 July 1890 on the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway The Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway was a Welsh railway company formed to connect the upper end of the Rhondda Fawr with Swansea, with the chief objective of transporting coal and other minerals to Swansea docks. It was incorporated in 1882, but .... It was known as Blean-Rhondda in the Great Western Railway timetable until 1936. It was downgraded to a request stop in 1965 and closed on 26 February 1968 due to the tunnel being unsafe. References External links Disused railway stations in Rhondda Cynon Taf Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1890 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1968 Beeching closures in Wales 1890 establishments in Wales 1968 disestablishments in Wales {{Wales-ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beeching Cuts
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised British Rail, railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes'' (1965), written by Richard Beeching and published by the British Railways Board. The first report identified 2,363 stations and of railway line for closure, amounting to 55% of stations, 30% of route miles, and 67,700 British Rail positions, with an objective of stemming the large losses being incurred during a period of increasing competition from road transport and reducing the rail subsidies necessary to keep the network running. The second report identified a small number of major routes for significant investment. The 1963 report also recommended some less well-publicised changes, including a switch to the now-standard practice of containerisation for rail freight, and the replacement of some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geological Fault
In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic forces, with the largest forming the boundaries between the plates, such as the megathrust faults of subduction zones or transform faults. Energy release associated with rapid movement on active faults is the cause of most earthquakes. Faults may also displace slowly, by aseismic creep. A ''fault plane'' is the plane that represents the fracture surface of a fault. A ''fault trace'' or ''fault line'' is a place where the fault can be seen or mapped on the surface. A fault trace is also the line commonly plotted on geologic maps to represent a fault. A ''fault zone'' is a cluster of parallel faults. However, the term is also used for the zone of crushed rock along a single fault. Prolonged motion along closely spaced faults can blur the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mortar (masonry)
Mortar is a workable paste which hardens to bind building blocks such as stones, bricks, and concrete masonry units, to fill and seal the irregular gaps between them, spread the weight of them evenly, and sometimes to add decorative colors or patterns to masonry walls. In its broadest sense, mortar includes pitch, asphalt, and soft mud or clay, as those used between mud bricks, as well as cement mortar. The word "mortar" comes from Old French ''mortier'', "builder's mortar, plaster; bowl for mixing." (13c.). Cement mortar becomes hard when it cures, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure; however, the mortar functions as a weaker component than the building blocks and serves as the sacrificial element in the masonry, because mortar is easier and less expensive to repair than the building blocks. Bricklayers typically make mortars using a mixture of sand, a binder, and water. The most common binder since the early 20th century is Portland cement, but the ancient binder lim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Board Of Trade
The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations, but is commonly known as the Board of Trade, and formerly known as the Lords of Trade and Plantations or Lords of Trade, and it has been a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. The board has gone through several evolutions, beginning with extensive involvement in colonial matters in the 17th century, to powerful regulatory functions in the Victorian Era and early 20th century. It was virtually dormant in the last third of 20th century. In 2017, it was revitalised as an advisory board headed by the International Trade Secretary who has nominally held the title of President of the Board of Trade, and who at present is the only privy counsellor of the board, the other m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) because they are the most resistant minerals to weathering processes at the Earth's surface. Like uncemented sand, sandstone may be any color due to impurities within the minerals, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow, red, grey, pink, white, and black. Since sandstone beds often form highly visible cliffs and other topographic features, certain colors of sandstone have been strongly identified with certain regions. Rock formations that are primarily composed of sandstone usually allow the percolation of water and other fluids and are porous enough to store large quantities, making them valuable aquifers and petroleum reservoirs. Quartz-bearing sandstone can be changed into quartzite through metamorphism, usually related to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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