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.