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Claverton Pumping Station in the village of Claverton, in the English county of Somerset, pumps water from the River Avon to the Kennet and Avon Canal using power from the flow of the River Avon. It is a grade II listed building. The pumping station was built by John Rennie between 1809 and 1813 to overcome water supply problems on the canal. It uses a wide wooden breastshot water wheel to drive two Boulton and Watt long cast iron rocking beams, which power lift pumps to raise water up to the canal. The pumping station has undergone several modifications since its initial construction, including revising the wheel into two sections each wide separated by a gap. The station's operational life ended in 1952, by which time its maintenance and repair had become uneconomical in the light of falling traffic on the canal. In the 1960s and '70s restoration was carried out by students from the University of Bath and the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust, who replaced and repaired the buildings and equipment and returned the pumping station to a functional state by 1978. It is now operated by volunteers from the Trust, open to the public as an industrial heritage museum. ==Description== At Claverton, the Kennet and Avon Canal is cut into the side of the Avon valley above the River Avon. The pumping station is located in a pump house built of Bath Stone, located at river level and separated from the canal by the Wessex Main Line. It was designed by John Rennie and built by Fox of Bristol. The pump house has a slate hipped roof. The wheelhouse projects to the west of the pump house and has weatherboard sides. The east gable wall has three doors allowing access to the wheel itself.〔 Water is diverted from the river by Warleigh Weir, about upstream. The water flows to the pumping station down a wide leat, which is crossed by a single segmental arch bridge with a central keystone. The water passes over depressing sluices which can be raised or lowered by hand cranking, and then powers a breastshot water wheel. The wide wheel is in two sections each wide and in diameter with a gap between them.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://oldsteamers.com/claverton-pumping-station/ )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.transportheritage.com/find-heritage-locations.html?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&sobi2Id=531 )〕 The wheel has 48 wooden "starts", supporting 96 float boards each of which is by by and made of Iroko.〔 The breastshot wheel is vertically mounted, and falling water strikes the blades. Breastshot wheels are less efficient than overshot wheels,〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.heiserhollow.net/category/cycling/kennet-avon-cycle-route/ )〕 more efficient than undershot wheels, and are not backshot. At full power the wheel uses 2 tons (2 tonnes) of water per second and rotates five times a minute. The water wheel drives a flexible coupling to a pit wheel with a diameter of , which has 408 hand-fitted wooden teeth that mesh with a cast iron gear, increasing the speed to 16 rpm. From there, cranks drive vertical connecting rods that transfer the energy to two long cast iron rocking beams made by Boulton and Watt. Each rocking beam drives an diameter lift pump, which also takes its supply from the mill leat. Each pump stroke raises imperial gallons (230 litres) of water to the canal via of diameter cast iron pipe. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Claverton Pumping Station」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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