{"id":906,"date":"2013-08-19T18:03:54","date_gmt":"2013-08-19T18:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theflatironblog.com\/?p=906"},"modified":"2016-07-28T15:56:37","modified_gmt":"2016-07-28T15:56:37","slug":"ruskin-dam-work-ramps-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/news\/ruskin-dam-work-ramps-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruskin Dam Work Ramps Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Flatiron Construction is retrofitting\u00a0the Ruskin Dam and Powerhouse<\/a> in\u00a0Mission, British Columbia, about 60\u00a0kilometers (37 miles) east of Vancouver\u00a0on the Stave River for owner BC Hydro.<\/p>\n

\"Ruskin<\/a>

Crews assembled a Terex 275 crawler crane on a 19 flexi-float barge in the lake behind the dam in preparation for the work ahead.<\/p><\/div>\n

The biggest challenge so far has been\u00a0completing the retrofit in an active facility.\u00a0The existing facility will remain online\u00a0during construction, which requires\u00a0special safety measures and close\u00a0coordination with the plant operators.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a heightened awareness\u00a0of electricity and hot work due to\u00a0electricity,\u201d said construction manager\u00a0Randy Bowman. \u201cIt means a lot of\u00a0lock-out-tag-out with the owner.\u201d<\/p>\n

The safety procedures add layers of\u00a0protection to ensure a disabled power\u00a0source isn\u2019t accidentally turned\u00a0on in areas with active work.<\/p>\n

The powerhouse, originally built in 1930,\u00a0also carries other hazards in the form of\u00a0toxic materials. Crews have encountered\u00a0asbestos, lead and silica during the retrofit.\u00a0Crews recently completed the demolition\u00a0of asbestos panels from the existing walls\u00a0and are replacing the wall with cast-in-place\u00a0concrete. The powerhouse retrofit, which\u00a0will also include installation of a new elevator\u00a0and 240-ton-capacity overhead crane,\u00a0will be complete by the end of this year.<\/p>\n

\"Ruskin<\/a>On the Ruskin Dam itself, crews are\u00a0preparing to replace the existing gates,\u00a0piers and road deck over a period of two\u00a0and a half years. The work will happen\u00a0in three stages as crews move across\u00a0the dam. The new dam will have five\u00a0gates, replacing the existing seven.<\/p>\n

So far, Flatiron has installed a tower\u00a0crane base on the right abutment with\u00a0crane erection to follow. Crews have also\u00a0assembled a Terex 275 crawler crane on a\u00a019 flexi-float barge in the lake behind the\u00a0dam in preparation for the dam work ahead.\u00a0In June, crews began assembling the\u00a0temporary works bulkhead, a system that\u00a0will fit against the back of the dam to hold\u00a0back the lake and allow demolition of the\u00a0piers. Demolition work began in mid-July.<\/p>\n

Currently the lake is drained to\u00a0approximately 11 meters below normal\u00a0levels to allow for installation of the\u00a0bulkhead. Water levels will rise again in\u00a0August after installation is complete.<\/p>\n\"Ruskin<\/a>\n

There are about 30 Flatiron personnel\u00a0on site, plus four major subcontractors.\u00a0At the height of each of the three\u00a0construction phases, Randy estimates\u00a0the team will grow to about 50. Work\u00a0for the first phase will peak this fall.<\/p>\n

Randy, who previously worked on\u00a0Flatiron bridge projects in California,\u00a0North Carolina and British Columbia,\u00a0said that while working on a dam project\u00a0is different, it\u2019s not completely new.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty much the same as anywhere\u00a0else,\u201d he said. \u201cThe biggest difference\u00a0is understanding all the operating\u00a0rules in a live power plant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upon completion, the facility will provide\u00a0power to 33,000 homes and will be able\u00a0to withstand a 10,000-year earthquake.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Flatiron Construction is retrofitting\u00a0the Ruskin Dam and Powerhouse in\u00a0Mission, British Columbia, about 60\u00a0kilometers (37 miles) east of Vancouver\u00a0on the Stave River for owner BC Hydro. The biggest…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[70,470,358,359,360,416],"class_list":["post-906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-project-news","tag-bc-hydro","tag-dams","tag-ruskin-dam","tag-ruskin-dam-and-powerhouse","tag-ruskin-dam-upgrade","tag-terex-275-crawler-crane"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flatironcorp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}