John Hart Generating Station

Replacement Project

November 2016

Community Construction Update

Report #41

Prepared by: Stephen Watson, BC Hydro

(O) 250-755-4795 or (C) 250-616-9888

Twitter: @Puntledge Email: steve.watson@bchydro.com

• Work is underway to remove some of the

rock beneath the dam to prepare for the

installation of the intake gates. Primary

concrete work for those gates is

complete;

• Excavation of the power tunnel has

officially passed the halfway point, with

over 820 metres of the 1,575 metre

tunnel complete;

• The permanent crane for the powerhouse

is being installed. This crane will replace

the two temporary cranes that have been

used in the powerhouse;

• Tailrace tunnel: Roughly 40-45% of the

tunnel is now complete; and

• Installation of gate guides at the tailrace

outlet is underway.

Project Status

• December: Permanent

powerhouse crane

commissioned and ready to

support installations;

• January: Installation of Intake

Maintenance Gates complete;

• February: Excavation under the

existing John Hart dam

complete;

• March: Construction of lower

elbow connecting power tunnel

shaft to the power tunnel begins;

and

• April: Completion of tailrace

tunnel.

Project Schedule

Record storms hit the Campbell River watershed with

high downstream flood risk management flows. See

slides 16 and 17.

Construction Pictures – John Hart Dam Area

4

Construction Pictures – John Hart Dam Area

5

Nov 23

Construction Pictures – Water Intake

Maintenance Gate Area

6

Upstream of John Hart dam.

The placement of concrete for the water intake

maintenance gates. The below picture provides a more

vertical view, with the bottom left picture showing the view

from the bottom looking up, and the top left picture shows

the top of the works.

Construction Pictures – Downstream Work

Area Below John Hart Dam Area

7

Excavation

of rock for

the water

release

works for

flows down

Elk Falls

Canyon.

Construction Pictures – Downstream Work

Area Below John Hart Dam Area

8

Nov 3

Construction Pictures – Power Tunnel

9

Ventilation piping is also shown.

Construction Pictures – Powerhouse Cavern

10

6,400 cubic metres of concrete, or enough to fill

about 2.5 Olympic-sized swimming pools, has been

placed in the powerhouse to date.

Construction Pictures – Powerhouse Cavern

11

Construction Pictures – Powerhouse Cavern

12

Construction Pictures – Powerhouse Cavern

13

Construction Pictures – Powerhouse Cavern

14

Shows some of the generator housings with Generator #3 in the distance beside

the east wall of the powerhouse cavern.

Construction Pictures – Gate Gallery and

Surge Chamber

15

Shows the work advancements in the

gate gallery (above) and in the surge

chamber (left).

Construction Pictures – Tailrace Outlet

16

Shows the concrete placements and the gate

guides (right) for the new gates to be installed.

With very high river levels, a short concrete wall

was constructed (shown below) to prevent any

flooding into the tailrace outlet area.

Record storms

In the first eight days of the November, the Upper Campbell River watershed received the normal

amount of rainfall usually experienced during the entire month of November (400mm). From a

water inflow perspective, in the six weeks since the start of October, Upper Campbell

Reservoir/Buttle Lake received the runoff volume that would normally occur between October to

mid-January. Over seven day and 14 day periods, we set volume records of water inflows coming

into the Campbell River system. Our records go back 53 years. The amount of water into the

reservoir over one seven day period exceeded a 1-in-100 year return period for storm inflows.

Peak flood risk management discharges hit 600 m3/s and that matches 1990 releases. From the

John Hart facilities, 480 m3/s was the peak flow over Elk Falls with 120 m3/s passing through the

generating station. The lower Campbell River flow, with the Quinsam River, hit about 660 m3/s.

Pictures show the

480 m3/s peak

flow rate over Elk

Falls. The year-

round minimum

flow rate is 4

m3/s.

Environment

New Stickers: Hatfield Consultants have launched a new series of reward stickers for crews on

site. One, featuring a pic of a Newt, marks the next round of their ‘save a critter’ campaign.

Another, will recognize work done to protect biodiversity, particularly through ongoing weed

management like pulling Scotch broom or managing Japanese knotweed. The last will be a

special ‘gold star’ given out to those who show exemplary environmental care in all aspects of

their work.

Water Everywhere: While October and early November saw record rainfall, the project team’s site

water management work continues to work well. However, the heavy rain and an inadvertent

water discharge due to a broken pipe from one of the water treatment facilities contributed to a

slope failure near the Millennium Trail near the surge towers. The project team has assessed the

impacted area, which is all on BC Hydro property, and the trail remains safe to use.

Pulling Weeds: It’s a good time of year to deal with invasive weeds like Scotch broom, and the

environmental team continues to work at protecting biodiversity throughout the project site. Each

month, time is spent removing broom and other problematic weeds like holly and knotweed.

People Profile – Cesar Velez

Background:

Cesar graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Construction

Management and Science from George Brown College

in Toronto in 2010. He worked at the Waneta Expansion

Project from 2010-2015 as project coordinator doing weekly

and monthly schedules and reports.

Home:

Originally from Colombia, South America, Cesar moved to

Toronto, Ontario in 2003, then onto Trail, BC in 2010 where

he met his wife. They moved to Campbell River in 2015 with

their two daughters ages 4 and 2.

Hobbies:

Outside of work, Cesar spends most of his time with family going for walks along the ocean, biking on weekends and camping in the summers.

Project Responsibility:

As project coordinator working on cost control / scheduling for ASL-JV, Cesar helps to make sure the civil contractor stays on time and on budget. This is supported by a new accounting system called SAP.

“The John Hart project, and hydro projects in general, are very interesting to me because they encompass many different aspects of construction. I’m glad to be a part of it.”

About Cesar

Construction – Point Of Interest

Each month, BC Hydro and InPower BC will provide a construction fact,

occurrence, or situation.

Powerhouse Crane Commissioning.

Installation of the permanent powerhouse crane is a critical step in continuing the progress in

the powerhouse. It’s needed to lift some of the key mechanical components for power

generation into place. The crane is being installed now, and in December, a comprehensive

commissioning program will be done. This includes:

• Testing at 100 and 125 percent the hoist capacity of the main hoist (140MT) and auxiliary

hoist (25 MT);

• Weights are created using trays of concrete blocks and specified configurations. For the

biggest of these lifts, 337,300 pounds of concrete will be loaded; and

• Once properly rigged with the prescribed weight, the crane must travel the full length of the

powerhouse to ensure tracks are ready for work.

The testing will be completed by COH Inc, who manufactured the crane, and follows strict

protocols that protect safety of workers and integrity of the powerhouse.