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Kinlochleven () ((スコットランド・ゲール語:Ceann Loch Lìobhann)) is a village in Lochaber, in the Scottish Highlands and lies at the eastern end of Loch Leven. To the north lie the Mamores ridge; to the south lie the mountains flanking Glen Coe. The village was formed from two previously separate small communities - Kinlochmore to the north of the River Leven in Inverness-shire and Kinlochbeg to the south of the Leven in Argyll - following the construction of an aluminium smelter and associated housing for its employees. The processing plant was powered by a hydroelectric scheme situated in the mountains above,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=History )〕 and made Kinlochleven the first village in the world to have every house connected to electricity, coining the phrase "The Electric Village".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=About Ben Nevis in Fort William Scotland )〕 In 1991, the village (according to annual census returns) had just over 1000 inhabitants in some 420 households. Today it is a notable tourist destination and centre for mountain pursuits. ==The smelter== Work on the dam and water supply system began in 1905 and was completed in 1907. The hydro-electric scheme was constructed for the British Aluminium Company and was designed by engineer brothers Patrick and Charles Meik. The chief assistant resident engineer on the project was a young William Halcrow.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Kinlochleven Community Trust, Argyll, Highlands of Scotland )〕 The scheme involved the construction of a gravity dam over 914 m long (the longest in the Highlands) and 27 m high, creating the Blackwater Reservoir. It was built at an elevation of over 305 m in rugged and almost inaccessible terrain, and involved the construction of some 6 km of concrete aqueduct and nearly 13 km of steel pipe. It has been described as the last major creation of the traditional 'navvy' whose activities in the construction of canals and railways left an indelible mark on the British countryside. The construction of the Blackwater Dam and the associated aluminium smelter featured in the novel ''(Children of the Dead End )'' by Patrick MacGill who worked on the project as a navvie. Some incidents in the book were based on actual characters and events on the Blackwater site; for example, one morning a worker drove his pick into a rock, inadvertently hitting a buried explosive charge which drove his pick into his neck and killed him. This incident was recorded as happening to an Inverness man in April 1908. The British Aluminium Company was merged in 1982 with the Canadian company Alcan to form British Alcan. In November 2007, British Alcan was absorbed into the Rio Tinto empire as Rio Tinto Alcan. In its early days the aluminium reduction plant employed some 700 people. Although producing some of the highest grade aluminium, its small size in comparison to modern US smelters led to its closure in 1996.〔 The associated hydro-electric plant was converted into a general purpose power station connected to the National Grid. 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「Kinlochleven」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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