The Blackwater Reservoir is a reservoir created behind a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

in the mountains above

Kinlochleven Kinlochleven () ( gd, Ceann Loch Lìobhann) is a village located in Lochaber, in the Scottish Highlands and lies at the eastern end of Loch Leven. To the north lie the Mamores ridge; to the south lie the mountains flanking Glen Coe. The village ...

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; gd, Loch Abar) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig, as they were before being reduced in extent by the creatio ...

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The dam is long, the longest in the Highlands. The

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

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 Patrick Walter Meik (1851 - 12 July 1910)Patrick Meik
''Grace's Guide''. Retrieved: 9 October 2015. was a ...

and

Charles Meik Charles Scott Meik (1853 - 5 July 1923) was an English civil and mechanical engineer, and part of a minor engineering dynasty. His father Thomas Meik was also a civil engineer, as was Charles' brother Patrick Meik; collectively, they established ...

. Chief assistant resident engineer was

William Halcrow Sir William Halcrow (4 July 1883Application for election to AMICE 9 October 1908 – 31 October 1958) was one of the most notable English civil engineers of the 20th century, particularly renowned for his expertise in the design of tunnels and ...

. The high dam was built at an elevation of about 305m in rugged terrain. of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

aqueduct was constructed, and nearly of

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

pipe was laid (six parallel pipelines). 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 Navvy, a clipping of navigator ( UK) or navigational engineer ( US), is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects and occasionally (in North America) to refer to mechanical shovels and eart ...

'. 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 Fort William, supplementing the supply from the Lochaber hydroelectric scheme. Surplus energy is sold to the national grid for public supply. 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.

References

External links

BBC One - Making Scotland's Landscape, Scotland's Water, Blackwater DamBlackwater Reservoir, KinlochlevenBlackwater Reservoir, Dam
on Canmore Reservoirs in Highland (council area) Lochaber {{Scotland-struct-stub

See also

References

External links