oceanfroggie
Well-Known Member
Parteen wier built by Siemens between 1925 and 1929 - Lift Gate access to head race canal
Non-tidal Head race canal 9miles long built by 5000 men using open cast mining equipment and dykes to raise it above the surrounding countryside
Tidal Tail Race canel below the dam, blasted out of rock, but after 80 years is now scenically tree lined. Flow can be up to 10kts in here if all the turbines are running at the hydro power station on a spring ebb! The little open boat in the right of pic is the "pilot" boat
Moored at Custom House marina in Limerick
View from Marina up river at tidal Shannon - 7m spring range
Half way up lock on ascent
View below and behind the dam at tail race water level 102ft lower than at the top of the dam
Boats on the Ascent half way up the upper lock chambre - Note the giant lock cill, the lift gate, and boats moored outside on top
Four giant 6m dia Penstocks feeding the four turbines below. Doesn't it remind you of old WW2 movies like the "Heros of Telemark" and "Dambusters" - so Germanic looking
Arriving back at Killaloe opposite the Cathedral moorings
Killaloe looks scenic even in the rain, but somewhat beautifully mysterious
Acres of headroom to spare under the historic bridge where the vikings once first crossed the mighty river shannon
The Ardnacrusha hydro electric powerstation once generated 100% of Ireland's electricity, and as late as 1939 it still generated 83% of the national grid, now it only generates 1% of the grid. But it is still one of the most amazing pieces of engineering in europe and was the biggest civil enginering project in europe after WW1 until hitler started building the autobahns. Ardnacrusha was built by 5000 men in four years, on time, within budget and it worked as designed. Hard to beleive that the then "Free State" government and parliament voted for the project in June 1925 and the Siemens crews opened the ground and started construction only one month later that july - no planning rows, no enviro lunes protesting, and the project costed what was then 18% of the fledgling states gdp!
The project was so successfully that Siemens used it as a reference site for hydro projects they then went on to build all over the world. 80 years later we can pass through it in our motor cruisers, linking the massive inland Shannon system to the SW coast of Ireland via Limerick city.
Image of giant man made head and tail race canals and hydro dam
More Info here in Wikipedia on Ardnacrush and the Shannon Electrification Scheme
Ardnacrusha is one of the best kept secret boating attractions in Europe /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Non-tidal Head race canal 9miles long built by 5000 men using open cast mining equipment and dykes to raise it above the surrounding countryside
Tidal Tail Race canel below the dam, blasted out of rock, but after 80 years is now scenically tree lined. Flow can be up to 10kts in here if all the turbines are running at the hydro power station on a spring ebb! The little open boat in the right of pic is the "pilot" boat
Moored at Custom House marina in Limerick
View from Marina up river at tidal Shannon - 7m spring range
Half way up lock on ascent
View below and behind the dam at tail race water level 102ft lower than at the top of the dam
Boats on the Ascent half way up the upper lock chambre - Note the giant lock cill, the lift gate, and boats moored outside on top
Four giant 6m dia Penstocks feeding the four turbines below. Doesn't it remind you of old WW2 movies like the "Heros of Telemark" and "Dambusters" - so Germanic looking
Arriving back at Killaloe opposite the Cathedral moorings
Killaloe looks scenic even in the rain, but somewhat beautifully mysterious
Acres of headroom to spare under the historic bridge where the vikings once first crossed the mighty river shannon
The Ardnacrusha hydro electric powerstation once generated 100% of Ireland's electricity, and as late as 1939 it still generated 83% of the national grid, now it only generates 1% of the grid. But it is still one of the most amazing pieces of engineering in europe and was the biggest civil enginering project in europe after WW1 until hitler started building the autobahns. Ardnacrusha was built by 5000 men in four years, on time, within budget and it worked as designed. Hard to beleive that the then "Free State" government and parliament voted for the project in June 1925 and the Siemens crews opened the ground and started construction only one month later that july - no planning rows, no enviro lunes protesting, and the project costed what was then 18% of the fledgling states gdp!
The project was so successfully that Siemens used it as a reference site for hydro projects they then went on to build all over the world. 80 years later we can pass through it in our motor cruisers, linking the massive inland Shannon system to the SW coast of Ireland via Limerick city.
Image of giant man made head and tail race canals and hydro dam
More Info here in Wikipedia on Ardnacrush and the Shannon Electrification Scheme
Ardnacrusha is one of the best kept secret boating attractions in Europe /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
