Glasgow Corporation Waterworks, Loch Arklet

This project was undertaken to input site information listed in 'Civil engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' by R Paxton and J Shipway, 2007.

In 1885 further storage of water in Loch Katrine was planned by a scheme to raise the level of Loch Arklet,

and carry the water to Loch Katrine by aqueduct. The original scheme was amended and the work was eventually carried out from 1909–14. The dam across Loch Arklet’s outlet is 350 yards long and made of concrete faced with red freestone from Annan. It is 35 ft high and 11 ft wide at the top. Difficulty was encountered in the construction of its cut-off trench. The water level of the loch was raised by 22 ft and its

length increased from 1 to 212 miles. The site was remote from roads and the nearest railway was 12 miles away at Aberfoyle. The closest point of access was at Inversnaid, on Loch Lomond. Material had to be brought to Balloch and conveyed by barge up Loch Lomond and then by a specially constructed aerial cableway over the hill to the dam site. The cableway required the construction of a small hydro-generating station for its power supply and this was built at Inversnaid and fed by a pipeline from Loch Arklet. The original scheme was designed by J. M. Gale, but it was brought into service by J. R. Sutherland, both engineers to the Glasgow Water Department.

R Paxton and J Shipway 2007

Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' with kind permission from Thomas Telford Publishers.