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Site C – Permanent upstream fishway and other out structures

New mandates

By Johanne Laurin 20 April 2022

Already working on the construction of Site C’s generating station and spillways, AFDE Partnership was awarded a second contract from BC Hydro to build the permanent upstream fishway and other out structures near Fort St. John in British Columbia.

The project involves the creation of a fish pass allowing fish to access their spawning grounds upstream of the dam. It includes the equipment supply, installation and commissioning support of the fishway and other structures outside the powerhouse, water intake and spillway structures. Also, electrical, mechanical, architectural, and civil/structural work.

When the facility is operational, the fish will be directed to the fish ladder thanks to the high-volume attraction pumps, then guided to a sorting area, to be finally carried by pods to their respective spawning grounds.

In addition to the fish ladder, the fishway project includes the construction of two pre-engineered buildings: a pumping station, a sorting building and their requisite waste water, drainage and water supply piping systems. The installation and commissioning of attraction and supply pumps, gates and various specialized fish sorting equipment and instrumentation complete the work.

The project team will pay particular attention to safety and operational related requirements of the Site C dam, such as back-up generators, reservoir level monitoring and public warning systems.

The work is already underway and is expected to be complete in 2024. The fishway will be operational by September 2023 to allow for the fall runs.

Thank you to BC Hydro for their renewed confidence in AFDE Partnership, a consortium made up of Aecon, Flatiron, Dragados and EBC.