Silent Valley Reservoir

The Silent Valley Reservoir is a reservoir located in the Mourne Mountains near Kilkeel, County Down in Northern Ireland. It supplies most of the water for County Down, surrounding counties and most of Belfast. It is owned and maintained by Northern Ireland Water Limited (formerly DRD Water Service). The reservoir was built between 1923 and 1933 by a workforce of over 1,000 men, nine of whom died during construction.

Silent Valley Reservoir
Silent Valley Reservoir
LocationCounty Down, Northern Ireland
Coordinates54°08′N 6°00′W
Lake typereservoir
Basin countriesUnited Kingdom, Ireland

History

With Belfast's rapid growth, there was a fast-growing demand for more and more water. The two existing upload water catchments were becoming increasingly insufficient. In 1891, local civil engineer, Luke Livingston Macassey was appointed the task of finding a source of water large enough to sustain Belfast.[1] Five potential sites were surveyed in County Down, and County Antrim. Macassey ultimately decided on the Mourne Mountains in Down. The reason the Mournes proved so popular with Macassey was the cleanliness of the water and the high amount of rainfall – both paramount factors in water sources. Upon deciding on the site, water commissioners agreed on securing a 9,000-acre (3,600 ha) catchment area. Private Acts of Parliament (in 1893, 1897 and 1899) allowed the Belfast City and District Water Commissioners to purchase the Mournes land and related access permits and water rights.[1] At the time the catchment was capable of providing some 30 million imperial gallons (140,000 m3) of water per day, but this was too much. A scheme was developed and divided into three phases:

  1. The first stage was to divert water from the Kilkeel and Annalong river through the newly constructed Mourne Conduit to a reservoir near Carryduff. These water pipes were capable of supplying 10 million imperial gallons (45,000 m3) of water per day. Work was completed in 1901.[1]
  2. The second stage was to build a storage reservoir, the Silent Valley Reservoir, across the Kilkeel River, after new pipes laid there were able to supply another 10 million imperial gallons (45,000 m3) of water per day. Design work on this phase began in 1910, but procurement of the work was delayed by World War I. A contract was eventually awarded in 1923 to S. Pearson & Son and work continued until 1933.[2] (To meet Institution of Civil Engineers requirements that design engineers have site experience, Dorothy Donaldson Buchanan left London to work on the reservoir project,[3] supervised by Pearson director Sir Ernest Moir,[4] and, having gained sufficient experience, Buchanan eventually became the first female member of the ICE in 1927.)[5]
  3. The third stage was planned to be another storage reservoir in Annalong to impound the Annalong River. However, after the difficulties encountered in building the Silent Valley dam the second dam was not built. Instead, in the 1950s, a second dam was built at Ben Crom, further up the Kilkeel river valley. Also a tunnel was driven under Slieve Binnian to bring water to the Silent Valley reservoir from the Annalong river.

The Mournes catchment area is surrounded by the Mourne Wall, built entirely by hand. Started in 1904, it took 18 years to complete.[1]

Panorama of the Silent Valley Reservoir

The Binnian Tunnel
Main article: Binnian Tunnel

Between 1947 and 1951 over 150 men drove a tunnel underneath Slieve Binnian.[6] The tunnel was built to carry water from the Annalong valley to the Silent Valley Dam, which had been completed in 1933, 14 years earlier. This was to further supply the growing demands of Belfast's water supply. Two work squads began at each end of the tunnel, and met half way almost 800 metres under the mountain. The technology in the day was lacking in every standard, and was lit by candlelight. When the two squads met, they were mere inches off. The tunnel measures 8 feet (2.4 m) square – and 2.25 miles (3.62 km) long. Its entry is at Dunnywater and its exit is on the roadside, a short distance from the visitor's centre. The Binnian Tunnel was officially opened on Thursday, 28 August 1952.[6]

References
  1. "A Century of Water from the Mournes - a concise history". BBC News. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  2. "A Century of Water from the Mournes - Part 2 A concise history - The Silent Valley Reservoir - 1910 - 1933". BBC News. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  3. Trevor Turpin, Dam (Reaktion Books 2008): 94-95.
  4. Heald, Henrietta (2019). Magnificent Women and their Revolutionary Machines. Unbound. ISBN 9781783526796.
  5. "The Woman Engineer Vol 2". www2.theiet.org. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  6. "The Binnian Tunnel - Introduction and Background". BBC News. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2020.

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