Now 'dewatered' work continues on Kootenay Canal
By Nelson Daily Staff
Work on installing a liner to the forebay of BC Hydro’s Kootenay Canal continues now that the water has been drained from the massive reservoir.
The $10 million project that’s using a 70-person crew — including engineers, safety experts, construction workers and environment workers — is about half way to completion.
The material being used to update the canal’s lining is expected to extend the lifespan of the canal by about 50 years.
Construction began in the fall of 1971 and was completed in 1976.
According to the BC Hydro website the Kootenay first produced power in 1975 with two 132,300 kW generating units were placed in service.
Two units of similar capacity were put in service in 1976, bringing the total nameplate capacity to 529,200 kW..
Design flow is 765 cubic m (27,000 cubic feet) per second with maximum water velocity at design flow two m (seven feet) per second. Construction required excavation of some 2.7 million cubic m (3.5 million cubic yards) of overburden and 1.4 million cubic m (1.8 million cubic yards) of rock.
The walkway on the north end of the canal remains open with security present to stop the public from walking into the bottom of the canal.
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