Site Records

Nant Power Station - Draft tube adit

The 'access tunnel' page mentioned this adit which branches off from the right of the access tunnel:

This is the adit which gives access to the draft rube stoplog gate, and the tailrace tunnel. Passing through the gate, an unlined tunnel slopes down, poorly lit, with a distinct sound of deep turbulent water surging away, when the station is running.

Towards the end, the adit bends to the left, and a more brightly lit area appears ahead:

The brightly lit area is the stoplog chamber. This small chamber has a section of the tailrace open to the air, and the stoplog gate and winching mechanism. As we enter the chamber, to the left is the gate:

...and straight ahead, the green railings safeguard the open section of tailrace, the water flowing from right to left. It's forbidden to enter this area when the station is producing power, as a sudden shutdown could cause a dangerous surge of water. At the time of this visit to the stoplog chamber, the generator had just been shutdown and there was a slight backsurge in the tailrace - every minute or so, a surge of water a few inches high would enter the chamber and crash around noisily:

Looking back up the adit toward the access tunnel:

Words and images © 2003 Michael J. Ross