Loch Beannacharan Dam

This dam receives water from the River Farrar catchment in addition to the outflow from Deanie power station (see separate item). The dam also provides set minimum compensation to the river, with the level of the dam controlled by the output from Deanie station. The dam is set within a tight gorge with the tunnel inlet and control gates set off to one side of the upstream face. The spill level is controlled by a pair of radial gates flanking a large central drum gate. To the foot of the dam a small compensation set runs with a legal minimum flow required to the river. A Borland type fish lift is also in operation on the dam. A small building downstream of the dam operates as a measuring weir. This is a relatively standard dam of predominantly functional design and with some later alteration to form automatic trash screen cleaners. PL Payne, 1988, 5; E Wood, 2002, 38; J Miller, 2002.

The Affric/ Beauly scheme

The work was begun on the construction of Mullardoch Dam in 1947. This is of the mass gravity type and is 2385 feet in length by 160 feet in height, impounding 7.5 million cubic feet of water. A tunnel was excavated from Loch Mullardoch to Loch Benevan, and another from the latter loch to Fasnakyle, the main power station on the River Affric, both tunnels being over three miles in length. The Fasnakyle tunnel splits into three steel-lined tunnels near the power station, each supplying a 22,000kW vertical Francis turbo-alternator.

The second stage of the scheme involved the Rivers Farrar and Beauly. Water is impounded in Loch Monar by the Monar Dam, supplying the Deanie power station at the west end of Loch Bennacharan which is dammed at the east end to feed Culligran power station, whose outflow to the River Farrar then flows into the River Glass. These power stations generate 38MW and 24MW respectively. The River Glass flows into the River Beauly which has dams and power stations at Aigas and Kilmorack, each a 20MW run of river station. These dams are provided with flood control, Borland fish passes and compensation water facilities with or without generation. The scheme was completed in 1963.

Information from NRHE, catalogue item number WP007424 compiled by George Walker, 2005.