Loch Loyne is a loch in the

Northwest Highlands The Northwest Highlands are located in the northern third of Scotland that is separated from the Grampian Mountains by the Great Glen (Glen More). The region comprises Wester Ross, Assynt, Sutherland and part of Caithness. The Caledonian Canal, ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Loch Loyne lies between

Glen Garry A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower ...

and Glen Cluanie. The

A87 road A87 or A-87 may refer to: * A87 autoroute, a motorway in western France * A87 road, a road in Highland, Scotland * Dutch Defence, in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, first cited in 1789 * Stuart Highway, a South Australian highway signed as A87 ...

runs beside the eastern side of the loch.

Road and Dam

The first proper road across the Loyne was begun in 1821 by the engineer

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scot ...

as part of the later stage of military road building. The road connected Tomdoun and Inchlaggan near the River Garry with the road and inn at

Loch Cluanie Loch Cluanie (Scottish Gaelic: ''Loch Cluanaidh'') is a loch in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland at the south-east end of Glen Shiel. It is a reservoir, contained behind the Cluanie Dam, constructed by Mitchell Construction and completed in 19 ...

to the north. The road ran across the Loyne over a stone arch bridge. Much of the original road survives either side of the loch, although the bridge across the river along with a segment of the road was flooded with the building of the dam. Occasionally the bridge has been visible when water levels are low in the loch. Prior to the 1950s, the loch was originally much smaller being fed only by the naturally occurring River Loyne. However, as part of a wider Hydroelectric scheme, a dam was constructed in 1956 and completed in 1957 that increased the water level and flooded the original road built by Thomas Telford. A newer road, the current A87 was built higher up. The loch is visible to traffic on the road above. Water proceeds north from the dam via a tunnel into

References

Reservoirs in Highland (council area) Lochs of Highland (council area) Freshwater lochs of Scotland {{Highland-geo-stub