Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => General Chat => Topic started by: RedLeader on July 01, 2018
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This short film about the building of Spelga Dam is really fascinating
Even if you can tell your Silurian greywacke from your Mourne granite, this epic dam building project in Northern Ireland is still a mighty feat. John Laing & Son were the company behind some of the biggest construction projects of the 20th century, from motorways and power stations to cathedrals. Luckily for civil engineering fans, they were keen to document and promote their work on film through a well-resourced unit in their PR department.
This two and a half year project high in the Mourne Mountains was typical of the remote civil engineering projects John Laing & Son undertook. Necessary, perhaps, but an incursion into nature that rarely runs smoothly. Unsurprisingly, the film glosses over problems that occurred when a misjudgement of the true level of the bedrock caused the first concrete pour to sink. But the dam still stands, and the reservoir remains an important part of the water supply to the area.
https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-spelga-dam-1960-online
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Here's a recent video of the low water levels in Spelga revealing the bridge below:
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This is really interesting. Great stuff.
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thanks
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I've been Missing-in-Action for a while, so only seeing this thread now :(
Spelga Dam drying up back in July was really amazing, and was enough to tempt me back into the mountains for the first time since the 2017 Christmas Camp!
I also took the opportunity to introduce my two year old daughter Amirah to the hills for her first time. The weather was pretty rough, but she totally loved it :)
(https://i.imgur.com/zu7QulC.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZL9XKRS.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Bf1Wvz1.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/k45pvic.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ER4x0PX.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/hUWnuQK.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/XmZRKGb.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/gbONNxd.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/IEjH401.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ieD3xGl.jpg)
8)
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Great Pictures Dowser...glad to see the camo/ surplus doing the job. Here is a wee video I made of Selpga drying the dry spell!
&t=22s
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That's another nice video Rugged. I must take a spin past, when I'm down for the Christmas camp, and see how it looks when its full.