Stave Falls Dam is a dual-dam power complex on the

Stave River The Stave River is a tributary of the Fraser, joining it at the boundary between the municipalities of Maple Ridge and Mission, about east of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in the Central Fraser Valley region. Blocked since the 1920s by ...

Stave Falls, British Columbia Stave Falls is a rural community located in northwestern Mission, British Columbia, Canada, about 40km east of Vancouver. Noted for the iconic Stave Falls Dam and beautiful Rolley Lake Provincial Park and Stave Lake reservoir. Stave Falls is the ...

, Canada. The dam was completed in 1912 for the primary purpose of

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power production. To increase the capacity of

Stave Lake Stave Lake is a lake and reservoir for the production of hydroelectricity in the Stave River system, located on the northern edge of Mission City, about east of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The main arm of the lake is about long from ...

, the dam was raised in 1925 and the Blind Slough Dam constructed in an adjacent watercourse to the north, which was the site of the eponymous Stave Falls. In 2000, the dam's powerhouse was replaced after a four-year upgrade. The original Stave Falls powerhouse was once British Columbia's largest hydroelectric power source, and is a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada () are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance. Parks C ...

Background

The Stave Falls Dam was first visualized in the 1890s as hydroelectric development was becoming widespread. Exploiting the drop of Stave Falls could produce hydroelectricity which could be sold to various customers. In 1895, Stave Lake Electric and Power Co. Ltd was given permission to study the falls for electricity production. In 1909, the Western Canada Power Company bought Stave Lake Electric and Power and began construction of the dam. The first generator went online in December 1911 and the second in January 1912. Generators three and fourth went online in 1916 and 1922, respectively. In 1921,

British Columbia Electric Railway The British Columbia Electric Railway (BCER) was an historic railway which operated in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Originally the parent company for, and later a division of, BC Electric Company (now BC Hydro), the BCER assumed cont ...

bought Western Canada Power and continued to develop the power plant. A fifth generator was installed after it was realized that additional water from a dam raise and a reservoir created by the Alouette Dam (in the

Alouette River Alouette River is a tributary of the Pitt River in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Alouette River was known as the Lillooet River until 1914, at which time its name was changed to avoid confusion with the much larger Lillooet Riv ...

drainage just west) could increase power production. The Stave Falls Dam was raised in 1925 and the fifth generator was operational on 19 September 1925. In 1926, the Blind Slough Dam was completed to supplement the reservoir's new size and serve as a

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...

. Alouette Dam was completed in 1928. Beginning in 1995, the original power station underwent decommissioning and was replaced with a new powerhouse containing two

Kaplan turbine The Kaplan turbine is a propeller-type water turbine which has adjustable blades. It was developed in 1913 by Austrian professor Viktor Kaplan, who combined automatically adjusted propeller blades with automatically adjusted wicket gates to a ...

s. The project included the construction of a new power plant intake, power house, tailrace channel and

penstock A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydro turbines and sewerage systems. The term is of Scots origin, and was inherited from the earlier technology of mill pond ...

s. It was completed in January 2000 and increased the installed capacity of the power plant from 52.5 MW to 90 MW. The old powerhouse currently serves as a tourist attraction known as the Stave Falls Visitor Centre. It features exhibits about the construction of the dam, hydroelectric generation, renewable and non-renewable resources, hydroelectric generation, human and natural heritage, and conservation.http://www.bchydro.com/community/recreation_areas/stave_falls_visitor_centre.html Stave Falls Visitor Centre

Design

The Stave Falls Dam is a long concrete-gravity and rock-fill dam with a crest width of . The Blind Slough Dam, to the north, is a long concrete-gravity dam with an wide crest. The Blind Slough Dam serves as a spillway which consists of 10

tainter gate The Tainter gate is a type of radial arm floodgate used in dams and canal locks to control water flow. It is named for its inventor, the Wisconsin structural engineer Jeremiah Burnham Tainter. Tainter, an employee of the lumber firm Knapp, ...

s and four

sluice gate A sluice ( ) is a water channel containing a sluice gate, a type of lock to manage the water flow and water level. There are various types of sluice gates, including flap sluice gates and fan gates. Different depths are calculated when design s ...

s. It has a maximum discharge of . The dam's current powerhouse contains two 45 MW

s and generators for an installed capacity of 90 MW. Unit one receives water from a long tunnel while that of unit two is long. The old decommissioned powerhouse at the base of the Stave Falls Dam contains five horizontal double-

Francis turbine The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts. Francis turbines are the most common water turbine in use today, and can achieve over 95% efficiency. The pro ...

-generators. Included are three exciters, two of which were once driven by smaller Francis turbines. Generators one through four used two exciters while generator five used its own. The

s for generators one through four had a diameter and were in length.

Operation

The Stave Falls Dam is part of the Alouette-Stave Falls-Ruskin Hydroelectric Complex. Supplementing Stave Lake is water from

Alouette Lake Alouette Lake, originally Lillooet Lake and not to be confused with the lake of that name farther north, is a lake and reservoir in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. It is at the southeastern foot of the mountain group known as the Golde ...

which was created by the Alouette Dam, northwest of Stave Falls Dam. A long tunnel connects Alouette Lake and Stave Lake. At the end of the tunnel is a penstock which feeds the 8 MW Alouette Powerhouse on the edge of

. Water released from the lake flows into

Hayward Lake Hayward Lake is a lake and reservoir on the Stave River in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the District of Mission about 60 km east of Vancouver, Hayward Lake is formed by Ruskin Dam, which lies about 3 km ...

and is used by the powerhouse adjacent to Ruskin Dam downstream for power generation.

References

External links

Stave Falls Visitor CentreFlickr gallery "Ruskin", Maple Ridge Community Association
which includes pictures of the powerhouse under construction {{British Columbia parks Dams in British Columbia Gravity dams Hydroelectric power stations in British Columbia Dams completed in 1912 Museums in British Columbia Science museums in Canada Mission, British Columbia 1912 establishments in British Columbia BC Hydro Publicly owned dams in Canada

Background

Design

Operation

See also

References

External links