Field Visit
Date 2010
Event ID 881983
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/881983
This large arrowhead dam controls the outflow of Loch Mullardoch and diverts water via a small underground power station directly adjacent to the upstream side of the dam wall through to Loch Bennevean (see separate item). The dam is 727 meters long and 48 meters high forming an imposing curtain wall across the upper reaches of the glen. The arrowhead form is relatively unusual with the large central buttress housing a compensation set and control gates. Mullardoch dam is the largest built under the auspices of NoSHEB and occupies a dominant setting at the top of the glen. The inclusion of a small power station operating on the flow through to the slightly lower Loch Bein a Mhedoin is a good example of the determination on the part of the board that schemes be designed for maximum efficiency. The station is unique in Scotland as an underground station with only a vertical shaft for access as the turbine hall lies beneath water level in the loch. Mullardoch forms the main storage component for Fasnakyle despite lying in a separate catchment. This is a response to the worries about the impact on scenic amenity in the area as large fluctuations in the level of Bein a Mhedoin were seen as being harmful to the scenery of upper Glen Affric. National Archives of Scotland (NAS), Ref: NSE North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board Collection (1943 -1990); NAS, Ref: NSE1 North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board Minutes (1943-1990); NAS, Ref NSE2 North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board Annual Reports (1943-1990); PL Payne, 1988; J Miller, 2002, 52: E Wood, 2002, 87,88; Scottish Hydro Electric, 2000, 12.
