Fibre Reinforced Shotcrete - Site C Hydro

BarChip Fibre Reinforced Shotcrete at the

Site C clean energy project

BarChip Fibre Reinforced Site C Clean Energy Project

BC Hydro’s $10.7 billion Site C Clean Energy Project will be a third dam and hydroelectric generating station on the Peace River in Northeast B.C. It will provide 1,100 megawatts (MW) of capacity, and produce 5,100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity each year — enough energy to power the equivalent of about 450,000 homes per year.
Construction of the project started in summer 2015. The generators will be on line in 2024 and the project will be completed in 2025. Once built, Site C will be a source of clean, reliable and affordable electricity in B.C. for more than 100 years. A key component of the project is the diversion of the Peace River through two diversion tunnels, once complete they will carry up to 3000 m3 of water per second.

Peace River Diversion Tunnels

The twin 750 m long, 11 m wide diversion tunnels were excavated by road header using a sequential excavation method. The tunnel uses a Barchip fibre reinforced temporary sprayed shotcrete lining with rock bolts for initial support, followed by a slip formed cast in place final lining. BarChip macro synthetic fibre was the preferred option for the temporary lining at the Site C project after successful projects by BC Hydro at the John Hart, Forrest Kerr, Upper Lilloote and Wanetta stations, all incorporating BarChip fibre reinforced shotcrete. The key benefits of Barchip at these projects were;