1926+2015+2025 278mw Smoky Falls Dam on Mattagami River near nothing in Ontario

Powerhouses: (Satellite)

Spillway: (Satellite)

By 2015, they replaced the earth dam with a new power house and retired the 1926 powerhouse. [OntarioRiversAlliance]

The capacity of the old powerhouse was 52mw. [kiewit]

Werner Muller, Feb 2021

Obviously, the dates on Google Maps are when the photos were uploaded, not when they were taken.

Werner Muller, Feb 2021

ConstructConnect, COURTESY OF ONTARIO POWER GENERATION 
They are currently working on safety issues to comply with new regulations that account for climate change. I had assumed that meant they were increasing the capacity of the spillway. Instead, they are permanently closing with concrete plugs 33 of the 35 bays that had been closed using wood and steel plugs when the Adams Creek spillway was built. That spillway made this one obsolete. They are refurbishing the sluice gates in the other two bays. They are also installing 66 post-tension anchors to improve the stabilization of the site.

opg

Kiewit Corporation posted two photos with the comment:

Earlier this month [Oct 2024], the Smoky Falls Project team completed the final mass concrete pour ahead of schedule – signaling the near completion of the 100-year-old spillway refurbishment. 

Since the start of the project in 2022, crews have poured more than 7,850 cubic meters of concrete. This milestone means in the coming weeks, the project team can proceed with the final water-up operations of the remaining three bays, paving the way for the completion of the west sluiceway refurbishment.

The focus of this project is to rehabilitate and strengthen the spillway and sluiceway structures at Ontario Power Generation’s Smoky Falls Generating Station, located along the Lower Mattagami River. Our scope of work includes refurbishing two sluiceway gates and permanently closing unused sluiceway and spillway bays with permanent concrete to follow dam safety requirements and give the dam a longer life span.

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