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Crunachdan Tunnel [Outfall]

Kinloch Laggan, Lochaber, Inverness-shire.

Tunnel, Hydro-electric scheme.

Part of a tunnel and aqueduct ('Crunachdan Cut') system as a northern section of the Lochaber Hydro Scheme, feeding Loch Laggan with water diverted from the River Spey.

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"As Hitler was preparing to launch his panzers into Russia, the Loch Laggan detachment of the 1st Tunnelling Company of the Royal Canadian Engineers was brought into north Scotland. Their role would be to bolster what was proving a lacklustre project to expand a hydro-electric scheme which was used to power an aluminum plant key to British aircraft production during the Second World War. The detachment was formed out of a core of goldminers from Northern Ontario who had volunteered to join the Royal Canadian Engineers after war broke out... The Canadians were sent to Loch Laggan to help dig a two-mile tunnel which would divert the flood water of the River Spey into Loch Laggan. The hydro-dam there fed the turbines which powered the aluminum plant at Fort William on the west coast of Scotland. The tunnel from Loch Crunachdan was expected to boost production at Fort William by almost 15%.

Work on the new tunnel was going painfully slowly due to a shortage of experienced tunnellers in wartime Britain. So, the civilian contractor involved, Balfour Beatty, turned to the Canadian Army for help. The British company agreed to pay the soldiers' wages, accommodations, and food, and supply the drilling equipment. The money was to be paid to Ottawa... In December the two tunnels finally met. They were only two inches out of perfect alignment. A job that had been expected to take a year and been done in nine months and an extra three months' worth of winter rain and snow run-off was available to power the aluminum plant's turbines." [Scottish Military Distasters]

Alternative Names: Crunachdan-Laggan Tunnel

Notes: Given length / VR approx.

Hydrographic Feeds: Loch Crunachdan

Hydrographic Resurgences: Loch Laggan