Second of six massive turbines on its way to Site C dam project

Photo: Contributed

The second turbine runner for the Site C dam will arrive in Prince George Friday night on its way to Fort St. John.

The first of the massive turbines came from the Port of Prince Rupert on Jan. 13 on a transportation unit that included one truck pulling the trailer while two others pushed. The combined unit is 81 metres long and weighs 350 tonnes.

The average speed of the transportation unit is 40 km/h, and it slows to 10 km/h for bridge crossings and narrow corners.

The trailer's 12 dollies and 120-tire configuration spans across two lanes of highway to make sure the pavement is not overloaded.

"Our operations team… everyone from the skilled drivers to the pilot car units all work together like a well-oiled machine; at times spending months out on the road together creating an incredible synergy," hauler Omega Morgan spokesperson Cara Craig explained. "They have pre-task toolbox meetings every night before they begin and are constantly in (radio) communication as they travel, calling out speeds, braking pressure, and any of the road changes and conditions to ensure a safe passage. We have tenured, highly skilled drivers which are needed for these exceptional loads."

It takes a team of a dozen people to do the logistics for transporting the gigantic machines and a team of 20 people to do the driving and traffic control en route from Prince Rupert to the Site C location on the Peace River.

The gigantic turbine runner is the rotating part of the turbine that pushes water through the turbine into a generator that creates electricity.

Each turbine runner is eight metres wide by five metres tall and weighs 170 tonnes.

Six turbine runners are needed at Site C.

Mechanical engineering company Voith Hydro of Sao Paulo, Brazil, has the contract to manufacture all six turbine runners for the dam.

The next two will arrive late in the spring and the final pair will arrive in the summer.