Kendoon Loch, South Dam
Dam (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Kendoon Loch, South Dam
Classification Dam (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Ken Dam; Water Of Ken; Galloway Hydro-electric Scheme
Canmore ID 276220
Site Number NX68NW 107
NGR NX 61317 89312
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/276220
- Council Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish Carsphairn
- Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
- Former District Stewartry
- Former County Kirkcudbrightshire
NX68NW 107.00 61317 89312
NX68NW 107.01 NX c. 61317 89312 Outlet Valve
Dam [NAT]
OS 1:10,000 map, 1981.
For Kendoon Loch (Reservoir), see NX69SW 89.
Not to be confused with Kendoon Loch, North Dam (NX 60585 90581), for which see NX69SW 90.00, or with dam (NX59NE 26) at NX 55383 98324, which controls water supply into Water of Deugh.
Ken Dam
Purpose: to create head and provide daily storage
Type: arch and gravity
Maximum height of footway above river-bed: 81ft (24.7m)
Total length along crest: 830ft (253m)
Length of arch portion of dam: 220ft (67.1m)
Radius of arch portion of dam: 165ft (50.3m)
Batter of downstream face of arch portion of dam: 4 to 1
Spillway level: 510ft (155.5m) OD
Normal maximum depth over crest: 3ft (0.9m)
Overfall spillway length: 393ft (119.8m)
Normal maximum spillway capacity: 7300 cusecs
Anon. 1938 ['Galloway Hydro-Electric Development'].
Kendoon Loch (Reservoir) has been formed by damming the Water of Ken. It supplies water to Kendoon Power Station (NX68NW 105.00), and is a major component of Stage II of the Galloway Hydro-Electric Scheme. The North Dam (NX69SW 90.00) and the South Dam (NX68NW 107.00) control the supply of water to the Water of Deugh and Water of Ken respectively.
This structure crosses the boundary between the parishes of Carsphairn and Dalry (Stewartry).
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 21 October 2005.
Gibb and Partners et al. 1937.
Project (2007)
This project was undertaken to input site information listed in 'Civil engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' by R Paxton and J Shipway, 2007.
Publication Account (2007)
The Water of Deugh joins the Water of Ken about 412 miles below the village of Carsphairn. A short distance upstream of this confluence, the two streams pass through narrow wooded gorges where the Deugh and Ken dams are located.
Ken Dam is similar to Deugh, but with its spillway 4 in. higher. Both are partly concrete arch design and partly
gravity section with the purpose of creating head and providing daily storage. Its arched section has a
maximum height of 81 ft from the river bed to the crest footway and has a developed length of 220 ft, a radius of
165 ft and a 4 to 1 batter. The surface rock on the south bank was of poor quality resulting in the spillway
channel being concrete-lined throughout. After dropping sharply to the river the spillway terminates in a concrete bucket (or energy dissipater) designed to destroy the kinetic energy of the flood water and prevent erosion of the river bed. The dam was completed in 1937. The consulting engineer was Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners and the main contractor, Sir Robert McAlpine & Sons Ltd.
R Paxton and J Shipway 2007
Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' with kind permission from Thomas Telford Publishers.
Field Visit (2010)
This dam regulates the outflow of water from Kendoon Loch into the open cut which leads Kendoon Powerhouse. This dam is part of a three dam system for this loch with the Kendoon Dam controlling outflow into an aqueduct leading to the Blackwater dam where water enters a buried pipeway with surge tower and thence into the powerhouse at Kendoon. The Deuch dam controls flow into the River Deuch to maintain the level of the loch. This dam forms part of a complex system feeding the Kendoon powerhouse and is a significant landscape feature. Architectural design interest is derived from the walkway oversailing the spillway and turret housing gate controls with a functionalist modern classical design grouping cohesively with a similar design to the powerhouse. P L Payne, 1988, 24; E Wood, 2002, 50; G Hill, 1984.
