Customer profile: Peace River Hydro Partners is a joint venture that is a partnership between ACCIONA Infrastructure Canada Inc., and Samsung C&T Canada Ltd. established to complete the primary civil work for Site C, a Site C Clean Energy Project located in the northeastern part of British Columbia.
Business Challenge Improve the flow of data between office and field equipment operators, surveyors, and surveyors.
Solutions:
* Trimble Earthworks Grade Control Platform
* Trimble GCS900 Compaction Control System
* Trimble SCS900 Field Software
* Trimble Access Field Software
* Trimble Business Center Software
* Trimble SX10 Scanning Total Station
* Trimble WorksManager Software
* Trimble WorksOS Software
* Trimble SketchUp
Benefits:
Fast progress tracking from office to field
* Increased satisfaction of the operator and awareness of the site
* Timely stakeholder notifications/reporting
The $16 billion Site C Clean Energy Project is the third dam and hydroelectric power generation station along the Peace River in northeast British Columbia. When it is completed in 2025 sit,e C will have 1100 megawatts (MW) of capacity and generate around five hundred gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity every year, as per BC Hydro, the regional energy provider.
Peace River Hydro Partners (PRHP), a joint venture between ACCIONA Infrastructure Canada Inc. and Samsung C&T Canada Ltd, was formed to complete the main civil work for the project, which includes the construction of an earthfill dam, two diversion tunnels, and a roller-compacted-concrete foundation for the generating station and spillways.
It’s an enormous project that requires an intensive planning process and constant communication to coordinate both underwater and on-ground activities in a timely and efficient manner using a wide variety of data, including the laser scanning process, 3D models, survey positions, and more. It’s also indicative of the shifting nature of the surveyor’s role as an information manager and technological innovator.
Tunnels, Cofferdams and Channels
Initial construction efforts were focused on diversion tunnels for the river, which would permit the building of the dam. In October 2020, construction crews took from the Peace River through two large diversion tunnels in order to allow for the installation of the dam’s earthfill along the main channel of the river. The crews constructed two 10.8 meters in diameter (inside) tunnels with concrete lines with a length of 700-800 meters. Long.
Then, the construction of temporary cofferdams along the channel of the river made it possible for the building of the dams made of earth. It also features an 800-meter concrete buttress that is roller-compacted to increase seismic protection. Other initiatives include the construction of foundations in concrete for the generator station as well as spillways, in addition to important ancillary work like the permanent road roads for the site, site drainage, and waste disposal facilities.
When working on the spillway construction, Rory Prendergast, then a survey foreman at PRHP, noticed some gaps in the flow of data between the office and the field. As work progressed to the dam’s core excavation and his role was switched to Survey General Foreman, Prendergast was able to get his questions and related inquiries scheduled in advance for SITECH Western Canada.
Foundational Adjustments
The dam’s core, when completed, will measure around 800 meters by 80 meters. To monitor the excavation process to ensure that the design was met, the team used the Trimble SX10 Scanning Total Station using a Trimble TSC7 controller.
Prendergast said, “Early on, we used thumb drives that the team delivered by hand at the offices. I also added SIM cards to Windows-based controllers, so that the SX10 data could be instantly transferred back in the office. In this scenario the field team would notify me via WhatsApp when they had completed their scan and I would complete this scan.”
Utilizing Trimble Business Center, he would identify high-risk areas and then re-upload the design to incorporate cosmetic changes so operators could instantly see which areas required to be taken care of. It was an easy enhancement that significantly improved office-to-field collaboration. However, the new digital workflow was only the beginning of better communication.
Underwater Perspectives
Another significant excavation needed in The Site C Clean Energy Project is the underwater work that will be done behind the dam. The site is about 500 meters by 200 meters. The aim is to reshape the area to a minimum level for a smooth flow of the spillway. The extra raw material retrieved from the river’s bottom is crucial to making the dam’s buttresses.
“We have to confirm the minimum line of excavation, but also we don’t want to waste each excavator’s time across the day shift and night shift,” Prendergast explained. “Each operator needs to know where the previous excavator has excavated because they’re all going in blind.”
Every excavator comes with Trimble Grade Control technology. Prendergast added, “With grade control technology, our operators can gather data like surveyors, a capability that has the potential to greatly improve our workflow.”
The traditional method of ensuring that crews were in the right line was to conduct a bathymetric study. “Even the case that we had grade control technology installed on these machines, they were only able to do manual data transfer via USB sticks. WorksManager simplified the process fast,” he added.
Trimble WorksManager Software is the data hub that allows office-to-field communications through the internet, which provides a simple, complete, and reliable technology-enabled workflow. The three excavators are equipped with grade control systems that continually record their locations throughout the day. When it is time to finish the day’s work, he connects directly to the machine using WorksManager, the WorksManager Data Hub, then downloads information and uploads it into Trimble Business Center. In Trimble Business Center, Prendergast examines the work done on the day to the 3-D model. He makes sure that the work is done to a sub-grade tolerance in accordance with the established amount of safety. He then transmits a revised perimeter model via WorksManager every morning to employees.