AltaGas
Kitimat-Stikine District, British Columbia
Hydrometrics and Field Services
AltaGas
Kitimat-Stikine District, British Columbia
Hydrometrics and Field Services
NHC has provided various hydrotechnical services throughout the permitting, design, and construction phases of AltaGas’s three Northwest Hydroelectric Facilities: Forrest Kerr, McLymont, and Volcano. The focus of our services has been hydrology with underlying hydrometric and geomorphic support and monitoring. As part of the work, NHC established a network of 20 hydroclimate stations in challenging environments utilizing a combination of satellite and ethernet telemetry to provide real-time data on environmental conditions. As the facilities were brought online, data feeds were established from the hydrometric sites to plant operations to provide real-time data on river conditions. The high sediment transport of these systems results in the nearly continuous shifting of rating curves when the plants are sluicing sediment or immediately following sluicing. To overcome this problem, a highly accurate means of measuring discharge through the radial gate at the Forrest Kerr intake was developed. This has reduced the number of trips to the site and improved the accuracy of the flows, increasing the overall productivity of the facility.