Binnian Tunnel

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Coordinates: 54°08′13″N5°59′46″W / 54.137°N 5.996°W / 54.137; -5.996 The Binnian Tunnel (2.5 miles long) was constructed between 1947 and 1950/51 and is located under the Mourne Mountains in County Down, Northern Ireland. The main purpose of the tunnel is to divert water from the Annalong Valley to the Silent Valley Reservoir underneath a number of mountains including Slieve Binnian, after which the tunnel was named. [1] [2]

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.

Mourne Mountains mountain range

The Mourne Mountains, also called the Mournes or Mountains of Mourne, are a granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. It includes the highest mountains in Northern Ireland and the province of Ulster. The highest of these is Slieve Donard at 850 m (2,790 ft). The Mournes is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has been proposed as the first national park in Northern Ireland. The area is partly owned by the National Trust and sees a large number of visitors every year. The name Mourne is derived from the name of a Gaelic clann or sept called the Múghdhorna.

County Down Place in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

County Down is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, in the northeast of the island of Ireland. It covers an area of 2,448 km2 and has a population of 531,665. It is also one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland and is within the province of Ulster. It borders County Antrim to the north, the Irish Sea to the east, County Armagh to the west, and County Louth across Carlingford Lough to the southwest.

Contents

A high degree of engineering skills were employed in the building of the tunnel. A workforce of 150 was involved in two tunnelling teams which started from opposite ends and met in the middle nearly 800m under the roof of the mountain. [1] The tunnel was created using drilling and blasting techniques. The shelters for the workers can be found on Slievenaglogh.

Drilling and blasting

Drilling and blasting is the controlled use of explosives and other methods such as gas pressure blasting pyrotechnics, to break rock for excavation. It is practiced most often in mining, quarrying and civil engineering such as dam, tunnel or road construction. The result of rock blasting is often known as a rock cut.

The tunnel was designed to carry 90 million imperial gallons (410,000 m3) of water per day, be 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long, 7 feet (2.1 m) high and 8 feet (2.4 m) wide. When the two teams met in the middle on 6 December 1950, they were only two inches out. The tunnel was officially opened in August 1952.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "The Binnian Tunnel". BBC NI - Your Place and Mine. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  2. "Binnian Tunnel". The Mourne Mountains. Retrieved 8 May 2015.