The Rio Cobre Dam is a diversion dam on the

Rio Cobre The Rio Cobre is a river of Jamaica. Its source is unclear, the headwaters being a writhing of unnamed, seasonally dry tributaries. The highest of these rise just above the contour. From here it flows to meet the Caribbean Sea in the north west c ...

near Spanish Town in Saint Catherine Parish,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. It is owned by the National Irrigation Commission. The primary purpose of the dam is to divert water into a canal on its right bank for the irrigation of up to to the south. It also provides

municipal water Tap water (also known as faucet water, running water, or municipal water) is water supplied through a tap, a water dispenser valve. In many countries, tap water usually has the quality of drinking water. Tap water is commonly used for drinking, ...

to Spanish Town. The scheme contains more than of canals and waters sugar cane, bananas and cattle. Plans for the scheme began with then Governor of Jamaica

John Peter Grant Sir John Peter Grant, GCMG, KCB, (28 November 1807 – 6 January 1893), was a British colonial administrator who served as Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal (1859–1862) and as Governor of Jamaica. Life John Peter Grant was born in London on 28 ...

in 1870. Construction began at the end of 1872 and by June 1876 the dam and canals were complete. In the late 1800s the West India Electric Company constructed a 900 kW hydroelectric power station upstream at

Bog Walk Bog Walk is a town in the parish of Saint Catherine, Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and ...

to power a

tram system A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

in Kingston. On 24 June 1904, while workers were cleaning the station's

penstock A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydro turbines and sewerage systems. The term is inherited from the earlier technology of mill ponds and watermills. H ...

, water was accidentally released down it killing 33 of them. The power station was closed in 1966, 62 years after the accident but, the dam, the ruins of the turbine house and some of the concrete supports of the penstock still exist today.

References

Dams in Jamaica Dams completed in 1876 Buildings and structures in Saint Catherine Parish Spanish Town {{Jamaica-struct-stub

See also

References