On the way home this evening we dropped into Catrine to see what progress had been made at the Dam. With water levels dropping back to a workable height, I expected to see progress this evening and I wasn’t disappointed.

The concrete slab has been poured at Anderson’s onto which the walls and radius leading edge will be constructed

The concrete base that that stabilises the entire structure has been poured. Shuttering for the two side walls will be built tomorrow and the walls poured on Saturday, weather permitting. Flow was maintained at very low levels through the fish pass and Anderson’s today as the work progressed and will be fully restored this evening now that the concrete has set. Fish will be able to pass through the temporary pipe that can be seen in the photo above. The radius edge that will front the structure will be added later (presumably precast on dry land and bolted into place). This will allow adequate depth to be retained in the middle pool whilst improving the type of flow over the structure. By including a radius on the trailinging edge, air entrainment will be reduced and a smooth flow of water over the surface will make it easiler for salmon and trout to swim rather than leap up the fall.

Let’s hope the weather holds until Saturday at least to allow the walls to be completed.

Following our concerns raised with SEPA over the sediment and silt released downstream last week, the contractor has taken measures to improve their performance and prevent this type of pollution occurring. The water in the photo above was clean and free from pollution arising from the works. This is what we always expected and to be honest should always have been delivered. We are pleased to see things have improved and long may this situation continue.