Robert Thom | |
---|---|
Born | 1774 Tarbolton, South Ayrshire, Scotland |
Died | 1847 (Age: 72–73) |
Nationality | Scottish |
Occupation | civil engineer |
Known for | First water purification plant in Paisley, Scotland using slow sand filtration to remove bacteria in water. |
Robert Thom (1774 Tarbolton, South Ayrshire, Scotland - 1847) [1] was a Scottish civil engineer who worked upon major hydraulic projects on the Isle of Bute and Inverclyde. On Bute, he created aqueducts to increase the flow of water which powered the cotton mills there, so that their capacity was increased. This economic success resulted in him becoming the laird of Ascog. He then created a larger system to supply water power to Greenock. The reservoir is named after him — Loch Thom — and the supply aqueduct is known as the Greenock Cut. [2] In the early 1800s, he designed the first water purification plant in Scotland. [3]
William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, was an English engineer and industrialist who founded the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing concern on Tyneside. He was also an eminent scientist, inventor and philanthropist. In collaboration with the architect Richard Norman Shaw, he built Cragside in Northumberland, the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity. He is regarded as the inventor of modern artillery.
The Caledonian Canal connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William in Scotland. The canal was constructed in the early nineteenth century by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford.
The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift in Tamfourhill, Falkirk, in central Scotland, connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. It reconnects the two canals for the first time since the 1930s. It opened in 2002 as part of the Millennium Link project.
Loch Thom is a reservoir which since 1827 has provided a water supply to the town of Greenock in Inverclyde, Scotland. It is named after the civil engineer Robert Thom who designed the scheme which created the reservoir and delivered water via a long aqueduct known as The Cut. Today, as well as providing a water supply, the loch is used for sport fishing and forms part of the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park with several attractive walks and a centre at Cornalees Bridge providing nature study facilities.
Inverkip is a village and parish in the Inverclyde council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland, 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Greenock and 8.1 miles (13 km) north of Largs on the A78 trunk road. The village takes its name from the River Kip and is served by Inverkip railway station.
The Falls of Foyers are two waterfalls on the River Foyers, which feeds Loch Ness, in Highland, Scotland, United Kingdom. They are located on the lower portion of the River Foyers, and consist of the upper falls, with a drop of 46 feet (14 m) and the lower falls, which drop 98 feet (30 m).
Rosneath is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It sits on the western shore of the Gare Loch, 2 miles northwest of the tip of the Rosneath Peninsula. It is about 2.4 miles by road from the village of Kilcreggan, which is sited on the southern shore of the peninsula, on the Firth of Clyde.
A hydraulic power network is a system of interconnected pipes carrying pressurized liquid used to transmit mechanical power from a power source, like a pump, to hydraulic equipment like lifts or motors. The system is analogous to an electrical grid transmitting power from a generating station to end-users. Only a few hydraulic power transmission networks are still in use; modern hydraulic equipment has a pump built into the machine. In the late 19th century, a hydraulic network might have been used in a factory, with a central steam engine or water turbine driving a pump and a system of high-pressure pipes transmitting power to various machines.
Overton is an area in the suburbs of Greenock, Inverclyde. Overton offers excellent views across the River Clyde and suburban Greenock.
Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park is the collective name for areas of countryside set aside for conservation and recreation on the South Clyde estuary in Scotland.
The Tummel hydro-electric power scheme is an interconnected network of dams, power stations, aqueducts and electric power transmission in the Grampian Mountains of Scotland. Roughly bounded by Dalwhinnie in the north, Rannoch Moor in the west and Pitlochry in the east it comprises a water catchment area of around 1,800 square kilometres and primary water storage at Loch Ericht, Loch Errochty, Loch Rannoch and Loch Tummel, in Perth and Kinross. Water, depending on where it originates and the path it takes, may pass through as many as five of the schemes nine power stations as it progresses from north-west to south-east. The scheme was constructed in the 1940s and 50s incorporating some earlier sites. It is managed by SSE plc.
John Frederick La Trobe Bateman was an English civil engineer whose work formed the basis of the modern United Kingdom water supply industry. For more than 50 years from 1835 he designed and constructed reservoirs and waterworks. His largest project was the Longdendale Chain system that has supplied Manchester with much of its water since the 19th century. The construction of what was in its day the largest chain of reservoirs in the world began in 1848 and was completed in 1877. Bateman became "the greatest dam-builder of his generation".
The Loch Sloy Hydro-Electric Scheme is a hydro-electric facility situated between Loch Sloy and Inveruglas on the west bank of Loch Lomond in Scotland.
The Breadalbane Hydro-Electric Scheme is a hydroelectric scheme in the Breadalbane area of Perthshire, Scotland. It comprises seven power stations which generate 120MW of power from the dams around Loch Lyon, Loch Earn and Loch Tay.
Edinburgh Water Company and its successors have provided a public water supply and latterly sewerage and sewage treatment services to the Scottish capital of Edinburgh since 1819. The original company was established to supply drinking water and did so until 1870, when it was taken over by a public Water Trust, with representatives from Edinburgh, Leith and Portobello. That in turn was taken over by Edinburgh Corporation and in 1975, responsibility passed to the Lothian Regional Council, as did the duty to provide sewerage and sewage treatment services. Both services were moved out of local authority control, and taken over by the East of Scotland Water Authority in 1996. The three Scottish regional water authorities were merged to form Scottish Water in 2002.
Glasgow Corporation Water Works and its successors have provided a public water supply and sewerage and sewage treatment services to the Scottish city of Glasgow. There were several schemes in the early part of the 1800s, with the Glasgow Company which was established in 1806 pumping filtered water from the River Clyde into the city. The Gorbals Gravitation Water Company was established in 1846, and brought water from reservoirs to the south-west of the city. However, an outbreak of cholera in 1848/1849, in which 4,000 people died, concentrated the minds of Glasgow Council, and in 1855 a scheme to use water from Loch Katrine, 36 miles (58 km) to the north, was authorised. The work required at Loch Katrine was quite modest, and the major construction work was the building of an aqueduct to carry the water to the city by gravity.
Alfred Moore was an English civil engineer primarily involved in waterworks. He obtained his engineering training under John Frederick Bateman and worked alongside him for much of his career.
James Morris Gale M. Inst. C.E. was a Scottish civil engineer for the Glasgow Corporation Water Works. He is most famous for his work building the Milngavie water treatment works. The project directed water from Loch Katrine, 36 miles (58 km) to the north, which required the building of an aqueduct to carry the water to the city of Glasgow by gravity.
Edward MacColl, later Sir Edward MacColl, was a Scottish engineer, whose greatest achievements were made during the time he was Vice Chairman and chief executive officer for the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board. He was knighted in 1949, and died on 15 July 1951, the day before his wife Lady Margaret MacColl was due to perform the formal opening of the Tummel hydro-electric power scheme.
The Shira Hydro-Electric Scheme is a project initiated by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board to use the waters of the River Shira, the River Fyne and other small streams to generate hydroelectricity. It is located between Loch Fyne and Loch Awe in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland. It consists of three power stations and three impounding dams.