The Pocaterra Hydro Plant, owned by TransAlta, is located on the Kananaskis River in the Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, approximately 130 km southwest of Calgary, Alberta. The development, comprising a main dam and storage reservoir, a penstock and a power plant was commissioned in 1955. The low pressure portion of the penstock was a 3.35 m (11’) diameter woodstave pipe. The woodstave pipe had been experiencing deterioration and progressively increasing leakage over the years. Engineering evaluations concluded that the penstock had reached the end of its useful life and required replacement. Knight Piesold Ltd. was retained by TransAlta to perform an assessment of various options for the replacement of the woodstave penstock, to execute the final design of the replacement and to assist TransAlta with construction supervision. Of the various combinations of options regarding pipe material (steel, GRP or woodstave), pipe alignment (existing, parallel or straight) and pipe condition (surface mounted or buried), an options assessment and workshop of all relevant stakeholders identified that the existing penstock should be replaced with either a new 1,350 m long steel or a new GRP pipe laid on an alignment parallel to the existing pipe, and in a buried condition. Both options were tendered and a steel pipe ultimately selected. Construction began in the fall of 2011, with the bulk of the work being executed in 2012. The new penstock was successfully commissioned in November 2012.
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