Cruachan Dam - Argyll & Bute, Scotland.
Posted by: 
creg-ny-baa
N 56° 24.412 W 005° 06.895
30V E 369497 N 6253370
150 foot dam at Cruachan Reservoir in the Highlands of Scotland, serving the underground Cruachan Power Station.
Waymark Code: WMVQ14
Location: Northern Scotland, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 05/16/2017
Views: 0
The Cruachan Dam is situated in a spectacular location beneath the mountain of Ben Cruachan and 1300 feet above Loch Awe in the south-western highlands of Scotland.
Work began on the dam in 1959 and it was completed six years later. Designed by James Williamson, it is a buttress type construction, 153 feet high at its central point, 1037 feet long.
It dams Cruachan Reservoir which sits in a corrie underneath the mountain ridge to the north.
Buried in the hillside beneath the dam is the 300 foot long, 120 feet high turbine hall of Cruachan Power Station. This can be reached via a tunnel from the Visitor Centre which is situated to the south on the north shore of Loch Awe. This gives the Cruachan the nickname of 'The Hollow Mountain'.
Water is also received and stored from Loch Awe as Cruachan operates as a pumped storage station with reversible turbines.
The dam can be reached either from a three mile walk along the access road from Lochawe village, or more steeply straight up from the A85 road near the Visitor Centre along a twisting path alongside the Falls of Cruachan. This is the usual route for ascending Ben Cruachan. The top of the dam can be accessed from the road or by a thirty foot high ladder towards its left hand side.