Monument record MHG95 - Pipeline, Kinlochleven Aluminium Works

The pipeline runs from the power house at Kinlochleven (MHG33837) to the valve house (MHG22201) at 220199 760451. It then turns into a 'conduit' - sometimes referred to as an aqueduct, running all the way to the main dam at the head of Blackwater Reservoir (MHG94).

This system formed part of a hydro-electric power scheme that was at one time the biggest in Europe. The monument was scheduled in 1994. Groups of penstocks regulated the water supply to the Aluminium plant. <1>

Running parallel and on the north side of the pipeline running from the Blackwater dam to the Aluminium smelter is the remains of a rail bed. The tracks are set into concrete 0.5m apart. Over this track is a pylon that appears to have carried an overhead cable. The pylon is situated to the immediate west of the valve house (MHG22201). <2>

A rail bed running to the S of the pipeline was noted during a site visit in 2010. <3>

The scheduling of this aqueduct and pipeline was revoked in December 2011 due to the new category A listing of the associated buildings. <4>