The Clunie Dam is located at the eastern end of Loch Tummel in Perth & Kinross. It raises the level of the loch by 5m (17 feet) to provide a head of water for the Clunie Power Station, situated 2 miles (3 km) to the east, as part of the Tummel Hydro-Electric Power Scheme. The water reaches the power station through an underground aqueduct. Built in 1949-51 by George Wimpey & Co., the foundations of this concrete mass gravity dam extend up to 24m (78 feet) into the bedrock beneath. It incorporates a fish ladder on its southern flank, which allows migrating salmon to pass upstream to spawn through 43 separate pools each slightly higher than the next.
Retaining 36.4 million cu. m (8 billion gallons) of water, the dam is 21m (69 feet) high and 116m (380 feet) in length. It is similar in construction to Pitlochry Dam, including two automated spillways but without an attached power station. The spillways incorporate rotating drum gates, each weighing 100 tonnes and 18m (60 feet) in length, which were designed and built by Glenfield and Kennedy of Kilmarnock. These adjust automatically allowing flood water to spill over the dam and maintain an almost constant level in the reservoir. These were refurbished in 1998, while the dam itself was strengthened in 2007 to better withstand extreme flood events and also protect against seismic activity.
