ATCO Power Battle River Generating Station

Smith-Root designed a barrier to prevent fish from moving upstream in a cooling water channel.

Location: Forestburg, Alberta, Canada
Commissioned: 2002

Type: Waterway

Project description

This barrier prevents fish from traveling upstream into cooling water flows from a power station. The channel was narrowed from 137 to 49 feet wide at the barrier.

The Smith-Root design uses vertical steel pipe electrodes mounted on 30 HDPE piles, forming three array curtains with a relatively uniform field between them. Spacing across the stream is 8.2 feet, and up the stream is 9.8 feet. The array is just upstream from a small weir.

Services provided

Coordination with ATCO
Civil and structural design of barriers
Electrical and electronic design of the pulsators and power supply systems
Supply of electronics
Regular maintenance

Site characteristics

Pulsators: Custom
Pulsator Qty: 2
Power Output: 232kW max.
Water Depth: 10 feet
Waterway Width: 49 feet
Water Velocity: 3 ft./s
Conductivity: 1500 µs/cm max.