Keeping Up-to-Date

Keeping Up-to-Date

Publication: International Water Power & Dam Construction
Issue: June 2017

As members of the industry prepare to attend Hydrovision International in Denver, Colorado, we provide a roundup of some of the latest news from exhibitors attending the event.

Knight Piésold
Knight Piésold received an Award of Merit in the Energy and Industry category, for its work on the Box Canyon Hydroelectric Project, at the 28th Awards for Engineering Excellence. The Association of Consulting Engineering Companies British Columbia (ACEC-BC) recognized the innovation and technical excellence of member firms at the awards gala, held on April 8, 2017, at the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver. 

ACEC-BC honoured projects under five categories with 17 awards for engineering excellence. “The winning projects are some of the most impressive work we have seen from BC’s consulting engineers, who have been showcased on this stage for nearly three decades,” said Keith Sashaw, President and CEO, ACEC-BC.

The Box Canyon Hydroelectric Project is a 16MW facility located in the McNab Creek watershed in Howe Sound, BC. Knight Piésold assisted the owner, Box Canyon Hydro Corp. (a subsidiary of Elemental Energy Inc.), with concept development, optimization studies, environmental assessment, and permitting, that continued through to detailed design and operational monitoring.

The project may have the most hydraulically complex design of any run-of-river hydroelectric project in North America, if not the world, with nine intake structures on different creeks and tributaries, all feeding into a single, high-pressure penstock to direct water to the powerhouse containing a 6-jet vertical axis Pelton turbine generating unit. It has multiple intake structures that address the unique hydrology, river morphology, and fish species distribution along McNab Creek and its tributaries. It has an 8.6km-long water conveyance system of interconnecting pipelines and high-pressure penstocks that handles varying intake elevations and flow contributions, requiring the addition and design of surge facilities and check valves. The project design also took into account the complex hydraulic transient pressures (water hammer), and provided unique ecological flow releases at each of the diversion weirs.

Through an alliance contracting model, Knight Piésold worked closely with the owner, project manager, and contractor to successfully complete this complex design. Commissioned in early 2016, the project generates 46 GWh/year of renewable energy, enough to power approximately 4,500 homes in the Sunshine Coast and the Lower Mainland.

 

Download the full article.

Download

Recent Insights

June 2025
Inverted Barriers in Tailings Storage Facilities: Lessons Learnt
June 2025
Prioritizing the Mitigation of Legacy Geomechanical Mine Hazards Using a Risk-Based Approach
May 2025
Knight Piésold: Sustainable Projects in DRC Through Baseline Studies
April 2025
Advancements in Geotechnical Investigations for the Characterisation of Upstream Tailings Dams in SA
November 2024
Design of a Co-disposal Facility for Thickened Tailings and Potentially Acid-generating Waste Rock
November 2024
Compaction Sensitivity in Tailings Stack Infiltration Modeling: Unsaturated Properties Uncertainty Analysis
November 2024
Volumes of Dam Material Mobilized by Erosion During Tailings Dam Failure Events
October 2024
Estudio de rotura de una presa de jales en la zona centro-norte de México
September 2024
Grouting to Reduce Seepage at Neckartal Dam, Namibia
September 2024
Influence of Pre-Existing Mobilized Zones on B3 Cave Propagation and Initial Subsidence at the New Afton Mine
September 2024
Importance of Indigenous Community Engagement related to ARD/ML and Long-Term Water Quality
September 2024
Effective Assessment of ARD/ML Potential for Non-Mining Infrastructure Projects
August 2024
CESA Aon Engineering Excellence Awards 2024: Kikagati Hydropower Plant
July 2024
Interview: Mario Lazo Emparanza, Regional Manager, Knight Piésold Chile
July 2024
A Diverse Approach in Geosynthetic Barrier Systems to Ensure Environmental Compliance of Existing TSFs
July 2024
Case History: Application Of Geosynthetics in A Tailings Storage Facility Rockfill Buttress Construction Project
July 2024
Visionary Leadership: Driving Engineering Excellence in Africa with Vishal Haripersad
June 2024
Concept Feasibility and Predicted Behavior of Mining a Rock Tower with Drill-and-Blast Undermining Using Dynamic Three-Dimensional Discontinuum Numerical Models
June 2024
Estimating Shear Stress within a Clay Foundation Using the Burgers-Creep Model
June 2024
Laboratory Study of Manganese Mining Overburden Mixed with Lime as a Paving Subbase Layer