Hydro-electric project: weeks 1 & 2

##Note: I had intended to post this on 6 August, when I wrote it, but I pushed the wrong button and it ended up in drafts, so it's 2 weeks out of date.  Another update this weekend, therefore, is on its way for week's 3 and 4.##

One of the most exciting projects in the valley is the construction of a hydro-electric plant in the former eel-trap (below) beside the weir (above).

Once complete, the system should generate enough energy to power between 10 and 15 homes (although the electricity will be sold to the grid initially at least) without impacting the local environment negatively at all.

It has always seemed daft to us that we have this powerful resource running through the valley which is essentially unharnessed.  Indeed, the river at Iford has a long history of providing power in the past: originally Iford Mill had an undershot wheel, and it was in the 1930s or so that this was modified to power an early electricity generator.  This was removed in the 1960s since the valley had been added to the grid (to the great satisfaction of residents who no longer had to contend with brown-outs and having to remove sheep, big-bales, and general river detritus from the grille in front of the generator).  And so, after 50 years or so, the river will be returning to work.

For information on the mills in the area, try this excellent book: Wiltshire and Somerset Woollen Mills, Kenneth Rogers

With permissions received and paperwork signed-off, we have excitedly watched as the civil engineering work has begun.  A benefit of this scheme is that it has provided the perfect opportunity to undertake repairs to the weir and mill leet, and whilst the Dutch firm Spaans-Babcock are manufacturing our 10ft diameter Archimedean screw, the repairs are underway first.
Above, the mill leet before clearing, and below a girder bridge is put in to access the weir with heavy plant.

And here's some of the land-based plant with a gratuitous advert for Suttle's, our contractor.

A collapse some years ago through undercutting has been used to create a fish-ladder as requested by the environment agency, and we are also creating an eel-pass which will assist the passage of elvers upstream; these measures should provide a positive benefit to the natural inhabitants of the river through the diversion of much of the water through the screw.
Below, the fish ladder during construction - it looks a lot better after it's finished apparently.

We'll report as the project takes shape, but having had five power cuts in the last three months, it is an exciting prospect to know that self-sufficiency will be just a cable's-run away in the future should we need to resort to that!
Above, the weir, dried out for inspection, before the major work commenced.