Aberfeldie Penstock

B.C. Hydro new penstock at its Aberfeldie Dam location required erection of 90m of large diameter penstock pipe on a 40 degree slope with difficult access conditions.

KWH was contracted to design a roller system and to launch the penstock by segments uphill. Purpose built rubber wheeled launching rollers where used to prevent damage to penstock’s finish coating and were designed to limit stresses on the pipe when cantilevered up to 20m during launching. Lifts were engineered so that the penstock sections would be lifted at final angle and to ensure that swinging the sections into place would avoid the adjacent rock faces.