Elan aqueduct

Elan aqueduct
Elan Aqueduct on the Deepwood Dingle Crossing, Bringewood

The Elan aqueduct, crosses Wales and the Midlands of England, running eastwards from the Elan Valley Reservoirs in Powys to Birmingham's Frankley Reservoir, carrying drinking water for Birmingham.

It delivers enormous quantities of water by gravity across the mid-Wales country side, through Shropshire and into the west Midlands through eleven major river valleys. The aqueduct is 73 miles (117 km) long down which the water travels at less than 2 miles per hour, taking one and a half days to get to Birmingham.

Contents

Construction

View over the aqueduct as it crosses the River Severn

Work on the first 13 miles (21 km) of the route from the Elan Valley was started in June 1896 by Birmingham Corporation Water Department. The aqueduct was built in sections by outside contractors, using three types of construction depending on the nature of the terrain it had to cross. "Cut and cover" was essentially a brick lined channel which was manually dug as a trench, then roofed over and concealed underground. Where the route of the aqueduct encountered high ground above the gradient needed to maintain the downward slope, a certain amount of tunneling was required using the same type of channel as above. This totaled around 12 miles (19 km), with the longest single length being just over 4 miles (6.4 km). The third construction type was the use of pipelines to cross valleys and rivers where the ground level dropped too steeply for the required hydraulic gradient. The pipeline was continued at the other side of the valley at the same height as the delivery pipe, as the water naturally fills the pipe due to the head of water traveling along behind.

The aqueduct over the River Severn

The initial scheme opened in 1906 with two 42in diameter pipes. Two more pipes of 60in diameter were added between 1919 and 1961.

Engineer

The engineer for the Elan aqueduct scheme was James Mansergh.

Route

The route is Caban Coch (52°15′51″N 3°35′52″W / 52.264032°N 3.597665°W / 52.264032; -3.597665) via Elan Valley, Rhayader, Dolau, Knighton, Powys, Leintwardine, Downton on the Rock, Ludlow, Knowbury, Cleobury Mortimer, Bewdley and Hagley to Frankley (52°25′21″N 2°00′05″W / 52.422451°N 2.001329°W / 52.422451; -2.001329).

Features

Pediment of valve house with "Birmingham Corporation Water" wording

The aqueduct and its related features are visible[1] at:

Some crossings over canals an railways have been replaced by buried pipes.[26][25] The line of the buried aqueduct through woodland is marked by a 20 metres (66 ft) "exclusion zone" from which trees are removed.[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ Bing aerial imagery; OpenStreetMap; names from OS 1st Edition. Note: for linear features, coordinates are given for the Western, upstream, end.
  2. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/145142
  3. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/145144
  4. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/145151
  5. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/145154
  6. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1801437
  7. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1801454
  8. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/787402
  9. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/145160
  10. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1801501
  11. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/145164
  12. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/509404
  13. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1787304
  14. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1191297
  15. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/152039
  16. ^ ""THE BIRMINGHAM WATERWORKS." Lecture by JAMES MANSERGH, President of the Congress.". International Engineering Congress 1901 : Glasgow. Report of the proceedings and abstracts of the papers read.. 1901. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/international-engineering-congress-1901--glasgow/report-of-the-proceedings-and-abstracts-of-the-papers-read-hci/page-23-report-of-the-proceedings-and-abstracts-of-the-papers-read-hci.shtml. 
  17. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/328689
  18. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/328921
  19. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/214458
  20. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/764986
  21. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/362028
  22. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1260231
  23. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1260207
  24. ^ http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1260193
  25. ^ a b http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1260166
  26. ^ a b http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1260219

External links



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