ESB pumping-stations above Portumna

Much of the west bank of the Shannon, northwards from Portumna to Meelick, is embanked. The purpose of the embankments is

[...] to permit higher operating levels in Lough Derg wuthout flooding low lying land along the right bank of the river. They also serve as flood protection against  storm floods. (E Conaty and M Long “Long term behaviour of Portumna embankments” in Paul Tedd, ed, Reservoirs in a changing world: proceedings of a conference organised by the British Dam Society, Thomas Telford Publishing, London, 2002)

According to the Heritage Council’s Waterways Corridor Study 2006: a study of the area surrounding the Lower Shannon navigation, including Lough Derg, from Meelick, Co Galway to Limerick City:

Three pump stations along the western shoreline drain water from the low-lying lands adjacent into the river.

I have spotted only two myself, but perhaps someone will be able to tell me where the third is. The pumping stations featured in the Irish Times in November 2009.

The upstream pumping station

The upstream station is here, and shown on a Google satellite photo here.

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This is the electric cable crossing the Shannon at the north end of Sally Island.

A Calnan unit could be pretty well anything: perhaps even a waterways bog!

The downstream pumping station

The downstream station is here, and shown on a Google satellite photo here.

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There’s a close-up of the workboat on this page.

The second building is narrower than its upstream counterpart. It has another of those steel frameworks.