Elan aqueduct explained

The Elan aqueduct crosses Wales and the Midlands of England, running eastwards from the Elan Valley Reservoirs in Mid Wales to Birmingham's Frankley Reservoir, carrying drinking water for Birmingham.^[1]

It delivers enormous quantities of water by gravity across the mid-Wales countryside, through north Herefordshire, south Shropshire and into the West Midlands through eleven major river valleys. The aqueduct is 73miles long, down which the water travels at less than 2abbr=out0abbr=out, taking one and a half days to get to Birmingham.

Construction

Work on the first 13miles 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 tunnelling was required; at one point the tunnel is 100 metres below ground, ensuring the aqueduct was at only 220 metres above sea level. This totalled around 12miles, with the longest single length being just over 4miles. The third construction type was the use of either bridged aqueducts or inverted syphons to cross valleys and rivers where the ground level dropped too steeply for the required hydraulic gradient to be maintained. The pipeline was continued at the other side of the valley at the same height as the delivery pipe. With the inverted syphon technique, the water naturally fills the lower section of pipe due to the head of water and flow continues downstream.

The initial scheme opened in 1906 with two 42inches pipes. Two more pipes of 63inches diameter were added between 1919 and 1961.

Engineer

The engineer for the Elan aqueduct scheme was James Mansergh.

Route

The route is Caban Coch via Elan Valley, Rhayader, Dolau, Knighton, Leintwardine, Downton on the Rock, Ludlow, Knowbury, Cleobury Mortimer, Bewdley and Hagley to Frankley .

Features

The aqueduct and its related features are visible^[2] at:

• River Wye: ^[3]
• Valve house: ^[4]
• Nantmel Aqueduct: ^[5]
• Carmel Aqueduct: ^[6]
• Bridge over culverted stream: ^[7]
• Observation tower: ^[8]
• Bridge over stream:
• Survey tower: ^[9]
• Brynymor:
• Hidden Aqueduct: ^[10]
• Valve house: ^[11]
• Inspection chamber: ^[12]
• Inspection chamber: ^[13]
• Graham's Cottage Bridge (River Teme, Leintwardine):
• Downton Bridge (River Teme, Downton):
• Inspection chamber: ^[14]
• Valve house:
• Inspection chamber: ^[15]
• Valve house: ^[16]
• Deepwood Dingle crossing ("80 or 90 feet high", built by Morrison & Mason of Glasgow^[17]):
• Wheelers Vallets Dingle Crossing:
• Teme Bridge (River Teme, Ludlow):
• Ledwyche Brook:
• Inspection chamber: ^[18]
• Bennett's End Bridge (Cumberley Lane/ Colly Brook):
• Hope Bagot Bridge:
• Corn Brook:
• Trig point: ^[19]
• Valve house: ^[20]
• Bridge over stream: ^[21]
• River Rea:
• Mad Brook: ^[22]
• River Severn:
• Siphon:
• Siphon: ^[23]
• Siphon: ^[24]
• Siphon: ^[25]
• Remains of former bridge over Birmingham-Worcester railway line: ^[26]

Some crossings over canals and railways have been replaced by buried pipes.^[27] The line of the buried aqueduct through woodland is marked by a 20m (70feet) "exclusion zone" from which trees are removed.

See also

• List of crossings of the River Severn

External links

• Elan Valley Aqueduct
• User-generated map of the route on Google Maps.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Powys Digital History Project: Elan Valley Dams. 9 May 2012.
2. Bing aerial imagery; OpenStreetMap; names from OS 1st Edition. Note: for linear features, coordinates are given for the Western, upstream, end.
3. Web site: Water Pipeline . Mark . Evison . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
4. Web site: Valve House . Mark . Evison . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
5. Web site: Nantmel Aqueduct . Mark . Evison . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
6. Web site: Carmel Aqueduct . Mark . Evison . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
7. Web site: The Elan Valley Aqueduct . Mark . Evison . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
8. Web site: Observatory Point on The Elan Valley Aqueduct . Mark . Evison . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
9. Web site: Surveying Point On The Elan Aqueduct . Mark . Evison . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
10. Web site: Hidden Aqueduct . Mark . Evison . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
11. Web site: Valve House on The Elan Valley Aqueduct . Mark . Evison . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
12. Web site: Access To Water . Mark . Evison . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
13. Web site: Under Park Bank . Richard . Webb . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
14. Web site: Route of Elan Aqueduct . Ian . Capper . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
15. Web site: Line of Elan Aqueduct . Ian . Capper . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
16. Web site: Hidden Valve House . Mark . Evison . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
17. The Birmingham Waterworks . James . Mansergh . James Mansergh . International Engineering Congress . 1901 . Glasgow . 17 November 2011 . 17 August 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160817133518/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 . dead .
18. Web site: Water Pipeline Access Point . Mark . Evison . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
19. Web site: Concrete Pillar . Mark . Evison . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
20. Web site: Valve House . Mark . Evison . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
21. Web site: Elan Valley Aqueduct . Mark . Evison . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
22. Web site: Elan Valley Aqueduct . Mark . Evison . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
23. Web site: Elan Aqueduct siphon at Wolverley Secondary School . Simon . Jobson . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
24. Web site: Elan Aqueduct siphon . Simon . Jobson . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
25. Web site: Elan Aqueduct siphon . Simon . Jobson . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
26. Web site: Elan Aqueduct crossing the railway . Simon . Jobson . Geograph Britain and Ireland.
27. Web site: Elan Aqueduct crossing the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal . Simon . Jobson . Geograph Britain and Ireland.