Date
07 May 1984, 11:30 am - 6:00 pm
Abstract
The Bridge River Powerhouse No. 1 was constructed between 1946 and 1950 on the north shore of Seton Lake near Lillooet, British Columbia, Canada. The Powerhouse contains four Pelton wheel (impulse) turbines generating a total of 200 MW of electrical power. When the powerhouse was completed and the first units placed in operation severe and extensive ground cracking occurred behind and beyond the powerhouse. The ground movement shifted the powerhouse slightly toward the lake, and cracked the concrete penstock tunnels. As a result of this the foundation under the powerhouse was thoroughly investigated and instrumentation installed to record and assess further movement. Drs. K Terzaghi, V. Dolmage, A. Casagrande and later Dr. R.M. Hardy provided expert advise on assessing the problem and devising remedial measures. This paper reviews the causes of cracking, 33 years of powerhouse instrumentation data and remedial measures carried out to stabilize the powerhouse.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
1st Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
University of Missouri--Rolla
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 1984 University of Missouri--Rolla, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Taylor, H. and Joseph, A. P., "Foundation Problems and Solutions at the Bridge River, Powerhouse No. 1" (1984). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 24.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/1icchge/1icchge-theme1/24
Foundation Problems and Solutions at the Bridge River, Powerhouse No. 1
The Bridge River Powerhouse No. 1 was constructed between 1946 and 1950 on the north shore of Seton Lake near Lillooet, British Columbia, Canada. The Powerhouse contains four Pelton wheel (impulse) turbines generating a total of 200 MW of electrical power. When the powerhouse was completed and the first units placed in operation severe and extensive ground cracking occurred behind and beyond the powerhouse. The ground movement shifted the powerhouse slightly toward the lake, and cracked the concrete penstock tunnels. As a result of this the foundation under the powerhouse was thoroughly investigated and instrumentation installed to record and assess further movement. Drs. K Terzaghi, V. Dolmage, A. Casagrande and later Dr. R.M. Hardy provided expert advise on assessing the problem and devising remedial measures. This paper reviews the causes of cracking, 33 years of powerhouse instrumentation data and remedial measures carried out to stabilize the powerhouse.
