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Category: Dam Talk

2019 #WheresWilly Fall “Dam” Road Trip

December 3, 2019
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| #WheresWilly, Dam Talk, MKE News

    Willy (our Jeep) and our team hit the road to complete our first Fall #WheresWilly "Dam" Road Trip.  While we have completed two summer versions of these dam road trips, this was the first fall one and took us way up into Northwestern Ontario. Starting in Burlington we traveled up to Dryden and Vermilion Bay before turning to head home, hitting 11+ dams and waterpower generating stations along the way. The age of the sites we visited date range from over from 3 to over 100 years old. It was truly amazing to see the differences in the equipment, technology and even architecture over the ages. One of the things we noticed with the older plants was the...

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Muskoka Spring Flood of 2019

May 3, 2019
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| #WheresWilly, Dam Talk

April 2019 saw record breaking flow on the Muskoka River in Ontario's cottage country.  This river  feeds the Muskoka Lakes that are home to some of the most exclusive water front properties in Ontario.  Many of the waterfront properties have extensive boathouses that are much more than just a place to park a boat.  They are often two stories high and include living areas and decks above the boats.  So when water levels rise in this area, property damage can be expensive. MKE was called up to Bracebridge during the 2019 flood to tour the North Branch of the Muskoka River and four of the dams on the river.  When we arrived on site on the Thursday, water levels had...

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Spring Has Finally Sprung in 2019!

April 9, 2019
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| #WheresWilly, Dam Talk

With the winter finally over, we have brushed the snow off of Willy and are back on the road for another year of the #WheresWilly team touring Canadian waterfalls, dams and waterpower stations. Our first stop in 2019 was a very wet and rainy one at the Marmora Generating Station on the Crowe River east of Peterborough.  This waterpower plant was constructed in 1992 at the site of a couple of old mills and adjacent to the Crowe River Conservation dam. Now is the perfect time for dam owners to be thinking about seeing how their structures fared over the long cold winter, with respect to impacts from ice, debris from the spring runoff, and washouts from high spring water...

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Our Team Returns to Bala

August 30, 2018
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| #WheresWilly, Dam Talk

After many years, our team returned to Bala to see how progress was being made with this plant.  MKE was the Project Manager for the North Bala Small Hydro plant between 2007 and 2015 to help the developer through the preliminary engineering, environmental assessment and permitting phases of the project.  This was a highly contested project by the local residents, causing the development time to increase significantly beyond the norm. Bala has a long history of dams and waterpower production. Burgess Generating Station on the Mill Stream:  A dam was first constructed across the Mill Stream in 1870 to provide power for the old sawmill.  The mill closed in 1910 but the facility was reused in 1917 by the Bala...

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Willy sidelined by ATV for 2 remote sites

August 29, 2018
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| #WheresWilly, Dam Talk

Our #WheresWilly team had to sideline Willy today for an ATV so we could visit a couple of more remote sites in Sequin, Ontario - Fry Lake Dam and Horn Lake Dam.  Both of these sites were very serene.  It is hard to imagine any other man made structure that could look more at one with nature, yet provide the necessary water levels for cottage country recreation and green energy generation.

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Beautiful day to tour the charming Elliot Falls dam and generating station.

August 24, 2018
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| #WheresWilly, Dam Talk

Our #WheresWilly team returned to Elliot Falls today (see earlier post) to get a better look at this charming plant. Elliot Falls is located on the Gull River in Norland Ontario (south of Minden) and is part of the Trent Severn Waterway.  The Waterway owns and operates a dam upstream of the Elliot Falls.  This dam is open to the public and currently used as access to a system of trails located on the east shore of the river.  The Elliot Falls Generating Station was originally constructed in 1902 by the Raven lake Portland Cement Company to provide 700 kW of power to the cement factory.  It was purchased in circa 1930 by the former Ontario Hydro and mothballed until...

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Bracebridge – Home of the beautiful waterfalls and generating stations

August 23, 2018
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| #WheresWilly, Dam Talk

Our team returned to Bracebridge today (see earlier posts regarding the High Falls Generating Station and the former Bird's Mill plant) to visit the beautiful Wilson and Bracebridge Falls and their respective #waterpower facilities on the North Branch of the Muskoka River.  Both of these facilities are located to scenic waterfalls within the Town of Bracebridge, have a long history of generating electricity, and were redeveloped recently. The Wilson Falls Generating Station was originally built before WW1.  The powerhouse, penstock and intake were replaced in 2012 to allow for its expansion to the current capacity of almost 3 MW. The Bracebridge Falls Generating Station is located in the heart of downtown Bracebridge.  It was originally constructed in 1902.  It was...

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#WheresWilly Visits Bancroft

August 22, 2018
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Our #WheresWilly crew visited the circa 1930's Bancroft Generating Station in the heart of Bancroft on the York River.  This quaint little 600 kW #waterpower plant is at the location of a former Wool Mill that was constructed in 1884.  It is unclear how much of the dam and canal infrastructure was built as part of the original mill, but it is assumed that the majority of whatever was built in 1884 has been at least upgraded when the generating station was constructed around 1930 by Bancroft Electric Light and Power.  The plant was redeveloped in 1948 to add a second unit.  The Wool Mill has since been replaced by the current Old Mill Apartments immediately adjacent to the power...

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Rainy Day Trivia

August 21, 2018
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| #WheresWilly, Dam Talk

The Waterpower industry is one of those rare industries that smiles suring rainy days like today. In honour of this rainy day, here is some #WheresWilly trivia: Did you know that there are over 3000 dams in Ontario but just over 200 of them have a currently used to generate electricity?  

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#WheresWilly team moves inside for a rainy day discussion about Dams

August 20, 2018
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| #WheresWilly, Dam Talk

On Friday, our #WheresWilly team took a break from the sites and sat down with some dam owners and operators to discuss the importance of rehabilitation of aging dams, preventative maintenance, and monitoring. Too often waterpower generators get tunnel vision, focusing on the mechanical and electrical systems when it comes to budgeting for upgrades. This is understandable given their direct correlation to the financial bottom line. However, neglecting the structural elements of a facility can add up to huge repair bills and possible downtime if deterioration is left unchecked for too long. During our road trip this summer, we have seen many dams that are in desperate need of some attention. MKE and its WheresWilly team cannot stress enough the...

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