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Archaeology Notes
Event ID 683815
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/683815
NX65SE 86.00 69488 53563
NX65SE 86.01 NX 69540 53605 Surge tower
NX65SE 86.02 NX 69479 53669 Transformer Station
For (associated) Tongland Dam and Tongland Tunnel (aqueduct), see NX75SW 37 and NX75SW 43 respectively.
Power Station [NAT]
OS 1:10,000 map, 1990.
Power Station [NAT]
OS 1:50,000 map, 1996.
Tongland Power Station: 1st stage of project
Average net head: 102ft (31.9m)
Catchment area: 396 sq miles (121 sq km)
Max. load: 33,000 kW [58% of 1st stage total: 33% of grand total]
Units per annum: 68 million [63% of 1st stage total: 37% of grand total]
No. of main turbines: 3
Tongland power station, surge tower etc: Wm. Taylor and Son (Glasgow) Ltd.
Tongland, rack cleaning machine: Blakeborough and Co. Ltd.
This power station has three 11,000kW vertical Francis turbines. The tailrace extends about 300ft (91.5m) below the powerhouse, and has been formed by the excavation of the rock in the bed of the river, which is tidal up to a point beyond the power station. The average net head available is 102ft (31.1m).
Anon. 1934 ['Galloway Water Power Scheme'].
(Detailed description of power generation equipment and switchgear).
English Electric Company Limited [post-1936].
Tongland Power Station
Catchment area: 395 sq mi (1023 sq km)
Average net head: 106 ft (32.3m)
Water consumption on full load at average head: 4250 cusec
Number and size of units: 3x11000kW, 1x250kW
Gross volume of turbine room (incl. loading bay), above main floor level = total: 420,000 cu ft (11893.3 cu m)
Gross volume of turbine room (incl. loading bay), above main floor level = per kW: 12.6 cu ft (0.36 cu m)
Range of net heads: 95-114ft (29-34.8m)
No. of rating of generator sets installed: 3x11,000 kW
Turbine output: 15,500 hp
Specific speed: 84 rpm
Normal speed: 214.3 rpm
Runaway speed: 418 rpm
Water consumption per turbine on full load at average head: 1414 cusecs
Diameter of runner: 8ft 8ins (2.64m)
Auxiliary set: 250kW, water consumption 35 cusecs
This power station is intended for manned operation, and is also the remote control station for Glenlochar Barrage (NX76SW 40). It houses the memorial plaque to William McLellan (1874-1934), who conceived the scheme.
Anon. 1938 ['Galloway Hydro-Electric Development'].
[Constructed] by Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners, 1934, as part of the Galloway hydro-electric scheme.
J Gifford 1996.
Tongland Power Station was built in 1936 by Merz and McLellan, and Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners, engineers, and is the lowest and largest such station in the Galloway Hydro-Electric Scheme. The concrete building is in the art deco style, and is complemented by a surge tower of rivetted steel construction on reinforced concrete arches. Water is supplied from a reservoir impounded by a concrete arch and granite dam with monumental flood gates.
J R Hume 2000.
This power station is open to the public as a visitor attraction under the title 'Galloway Hydros Visitor Centre'.
Source: 'Harnessing the Power of Nature' [Scottish Power information leaflet, 2006].
