Huge valves are being delivered this month as excavation continues at the $1.1-billion John Hart Generating Station replacement project at Campbell River.
Excavation under the existing John Hart dam is scheduled to be completed in February. That will allow the upstream water intake to connect with the downstream power tunnel.
These jobs are part of the massive construction project running from July 2014 to fall 2018. The new station will replace a 1947 facility which is not expected to survive a low-to-moderate strength earthquake.
Once the project is finished, power will be available to 80,000 homes, an increase from the current 74,000.
“In 2016, significant project milestones have been achieved, including the completion of the powerhouse cavern in May and the steady progress of the tunnelling work. In the power tunnel, through controlled drilling and blasting, we can advance just over five metres per blast,” B.C. Hydro’s Stephen Watson said in his latest project report, released in late December.
The permanent crane inside the powerhouse has been commissioned and its operators have completed their training, Watson said.
Turbine inlet valves are arriving this month, he said.
Excavation being carried out under the dam is destined to connect the upstream water intake to the downstream power tunnel, Watson said.
So far, more than 910 metres of the 1,575-metre-long power tunnel have been excavated, he said.
More than 7,200 cubic metres of concrete has gone into the powerhouse already, with more to come. That immense cavern is 40 metres high and 93 metres long.
Slightly more than half of the excavation for the 520-metre-long tailrace tunnel has been carried out, the report said. A tailrace carries water away from a turbine.
This month, mechanical work will begin at the tailrace outlet, Watson said. The tailrace tunnel is scheduled to be finished in April.
There are 360 workers and employees on the John Hart site, including subcontractors, Watson said.
The project’s civil contractor, ASL-JV, consisting of Aecon SNC-Lavalin, has 182 employees. Of those, 73 per cent are local, with 26 per cent from elsewhere in B.C., he said. The remainder are from outside the province.
About $40 million has been spent on vendors, suppliers and sub-contractors on Vancouver Island. Another $149 million has been spent in B.C., not including the Island.
John Hart is among the largest construction projects on Vancouver Island.
The North Island Hospital project also falls in that category. Construction is ongoing for a $331.7-million facility with 153 beds in the Comox Valley and a $274.5-million hospital with 95 beds in Campbell River.
In Victoria, construction workers are busy on the Capital Park development on 6.2 acres behind the legislature. Concert Properties, of Vancouver, and Jawl Development Corp., of Victoria, are putting up office and retail space, as well as rental housing.
