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By Caden Fanshaw

SITE C

Massive Site C turbine drives through Prince George

Jan 14, 2021 | 4:30 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – There were some big parts of the Site C project moving through Prince George and Vanderhoof on Wednesday night.

BC Hydro says these are the largest pre-assembled parts of the dam, the turbines that are in simple terms one big waterwheel.

“If you think of it like a windmill which is turned by air, this is really a waterwheel that does the same thing with water. It’s turned by water which comes out of the reservoir, goes in the intake down a penstock which is a water pipe, directed into the turbine, back into the river.” says Dave Conway, Community Relations Manager for SIte C.

The turbines weigh in at 170 tonnes which is roughly the same weight as a blue whale.

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The size of the turbines are very large as well, so wide they take up two lanes of the highway, which is often the whole highway, as the highway closures move with the turbine to make the transport safe.

The turbines are 28 feet wide, and 17 feet tall, making the need for a very special transporter to help move things along.

Omega Morgan, the Canadian company used to transport this big turbine is no stranger to big projects and big moves.

The company says this is their biggest transport in BC, but have made other notable ones including being featured on the Discovery Channel’s ‘Highway Thru Hell’ about the conditions of the Coquihalla highway in the Central Interior.

There are over 100 tires helping carry the load as well as three trucks helping get the load down the road safely.

But if you missed this one you will have another chance. This turbine, just the first of six, set to make its way to the site C dam site on the Peace River.

Four others are still in transport from Sao Paulo Brazil in total, the set is not cheap, coming in at 400 million dollars for six turbines made and designed specifically for Site C.