Bersimis-1 generating station
Encyclopedia
The Bersimis-1 generating station is a dam
and a hydroelectric power station
built by Hydro-Québec
on the Betsiamites River
, in Lac-au-Brochet
, 85 km (52.8 mi) north of the town of Forestville, Quebec
. Construction started in 1953 and the power station was commissioned in 1956 with an initial nameplate capacity of 912 megawatts.
It is the first plant ever built by Hydro-Québec and it has been described as a turning point in the history of electricity in province, paving the way for the takeover of all private utilities by the government-owned corporation
in 1963. Three years later, the first plant was followed by a second one, built 30 km (18.6 mi) downstream. Bersimis-2
entered service in 1959.
With upgrades, a major overhaul in the 1990s and further river diversions, Bersimis-1 installed capacity has been increased over time to its current 1,178 megawatts.
and Outardes rivers
, on the north shore
of the Saint Lawrence River
, 300 km (186.4 mi) downstream from Quebec City
. With the exception of an Innu
reserve
at Betsiamites
, at the mouth of the river
, the area is scarcely populated.
The word Betsiamites or Pessamit is from the innu language
and means "the assembly place of the lampreys". Bersimis was not used by either the Innu
s, the French
or the French Canadian
s, but was introduced by British admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield
, in his hydrographic surveys of the Saint Lawrence River of 1837. The Hudson's Bay Company
used the name when opened a trading post
in 1855, as did the post office
in 1863. After 2 decades of efforts, residents and the Quebec government
convinced the federal government
to start using Betsiamites in 1919. But administrative use of Bersimis perdured for decades and Hydro-Québec used it in the 1950s to name its facility in the area.
Located in the Central Laurentians ecoregion of the Boreal Shield Ecozone, the hinterland
is heavily forested and dominated by softwood
species
: black spruce (Picea mariana), balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white spruce (Picea glauca). In 1937, the Quebec government
granted a forest concession to the Anglo Canadian Pulp & Paper Co. to supply its Forestville
mill, on the coast. The area is described as "a sportsman's paradise, where fish, moose
, bear
and a host of other game creatures
abound".
More interestingly from an engineering perspective, the river is well suited for hydroelectric
development. The river falls 373 m (1,223.8 ft) over 160 km (99.4 mi), between Lake Pipmuacan, and the delta, including an initial drop of 213 m (698.8 ft) on the first 30 km (18.6 mi). The site was also ideal because the river flow could be controlled very easily at the outlet of Lac Cassé. More development was also possible at a second location, approximately 30 km (18.6 mi) downstream, to capitalize from a further 113 m (370.7 ft) drop. The second site was developed between 1956 and 1959 and came to be known as Bersimis-2
.
area, the addition of 12 more units at the Beauharnois generating station
would not be sufficient to meet the steady increase in demand as early as 1956.
Quebec's largest private utility faced the same problem. Although the Shawinigan Water & Power Company (SWP) added units at its Rapide-Blanc and La Tuque facilities while building the brand new 184-MW Shawinigan-3 (1949) and the 300-MW Trenche generating station in 1953, company executives were eager to increase capacity by getting the government to award new hydraulic concessions on undeveloped rivers.
SWP sets its sight on the promising rivers in northeastern Quebec. In 1948, its engineering subsidiary, Shawinigan Engineering, surveyed the North Shore rivers and started planning for the construction of a 1,000,000 horsepower (746 MW) generating station on the Betsiamites River, 300 kilometres (186 mi) downstream of Quebec City
. The drainage was easily regulated from its source, Lac Cassé, and according to preliminary calculations, developing the remote site would cost $125 per horsepower
, a cost low enough to offset the cost of 650 kilometres (403.9 mi) power lines to bring the power to Quebec's largest cities.
But the Quebec government decided otherwise. The hydraulic concession was granted instead to government-owned Hydro-Québec in September 1951. According to Claude Bellavance, an economic historian who wrote a comprehensive book on the rise and fall of SWP, this decision by the Maurice Duplessis
government had major consequences on the future of the company, which was bought and merged by Hydro-Québec in 1963. In hindsight, writes Bellavance, this move represented a major step towards the re-appropriation of this economic sector by the State, making Hydro-Québec the main if not the sole entity in charge of hydroelectric development in the province.
The 2-lane road from Forestville to Labrieville is now part of the Quebec highway network and is now known as Route 385
.
(12 MW) hydroelectric generating station supplied the construction sites and camps. The equipment used for the temporary plant came from the Saint-Timothée generating station, a small hydro plant in the Montreal area dismantled by Hydro-Québec in 1949.
Construction of Labrieville, a village named in honor of Napoléon-Alexandre Labrie, founding bishop
of the Gulf of St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Diocese
, began in June 1953. Besides temporary quarters for workers, an 8-classroom school, a 400-seat church, inn, an administrative and commercial center and 117 homes were built. The first tenant took possession of a dwelling on November 16, 1953, and the village was completed in 1955.
Described as a "jewel set in the ruggedness of wild country", the village was located in the Betsiamite River valley a short distance from the generating station. Improvements in telecommunications and remote-controlled operations made it redundant, and the company chose to close Labrieville in 1974.
, increasing the surfaces of lakes Pipmuacan and Cassé: the first, 674 m (2,211.3 ft) long and 74 m (242.8 ft) high, is built between two mountains surrounding the Lac Cassé, the second, 315 m (1,033.5 ft) long, curtailed the release of water into the Desroches River.
Vast quantities of clay
was required to make the impervious cores of the rock-filled dams. A sufficient quantity was found nearby by surveyors with the assistance of native guides, who recalled seeing beaver
s fetching the material for their own dams.
A mountain between the two dams was cut down to build a spillway for the reservoir. Both dams are similar in conception to the Kenney Dam
built in 1952 by Alcan
as part of their Kemano
, British Columbia
generating station.
is located 12 km (7.5 mi) from the dam. A 31 feet (9.4 m) diameter, concrete-lined water intake was dug in the Laurentian Plateau
granite
to bring water to a manifold
, where individual penstock
s feed the plant's 8 units. Work on the tunnel was carried out at an average speed of 732 ft (223.1 m) per week.
The surge tank
has been carved from rock and is located 60 ft (18.3 m) from the first penstock. A 27 ft (8.2 m) shaft rises vertically 313 ft (95.4 m), connects to the bottom of the surge tank, 84 ft (25.6 m) in diameter and 360 ft (109.7 m) deep, and opens on to a hilltop overlooking the village.
The powerhouse was carved inside the mountain and is accessed through a 270 ft (82.3 m) tunnel. Inside the 365 feet (111.3 m) long, 65 feet (19.8 m) high and 80 feet (24.4 m) wide cavity were installed eight 150,000-horsepower
Francis turbine
s, connected to 13.8 kilovolt generators. Parallel to the powerhouse, a tailrace tunnel discharges the water to the river channel below.
overhead power line
s built to carry power to Quebec City and Montreal attracted considerable interest in the engineering trade press
and contributed to raise the profile of Hydro-Québec's engineers internationally. From the power station, the 315-kilovolt (kV) power lines, among the first to be built in North America at this voltage, follow a westerly direction to reach the Sault-aux-Cochons River, where they turn south following the valley. Near the mouth of the river, the line takes a south-westerly orientation, parallel to the Saint Lawrence River and crosses the Saguenay River
fjord
near Petit-Saguenay
. Two sets of crossing pylons, separated by a span width of 1.6 km (0.994196378639691 mi) were built on each side of river in order not to interfere with shipping.
A third 315 kV power line to Baie-Comeau was built to bring power to the Gaspé Peninsula
, via 4-55 km (34.2 mi) submarine power cable
s, linking the Manicouagan peninsula to the Les Boules substation in Métis-sur-Mer
. Laying the cables at a depth of 370 m (1,213.9 ft) proved difficult, due to high winds and heavy waves, damaging two cables. A first attempt to power the cables was made in December 1954, but they became operational in November 1955, almost a year later. Starting in 1959, corrosion and the action of ice caused repeated failures leading to its decommissioning in 1962.
published a six-part series in Montreal's Le Devoir
on the construction of Bersimis-1 in January 1954. In his stories, Laporte reports on the long hours, bad pay and unhealthy working conditions, mismanagement and shady contracting practices. The stories, published a few days after 10 men died in a scaffolding collapse on January 22, 1954, generated heated debates at the Legislature
. Inspired by Laporte's reporting, Liberal opposition leader Georges-Émile Lapalme
accused the Maurice Duplessis
government of mismanagement.
In a history M.A.
thesis submitted in 2009, Richard Landry concluded that pay and working conditions onsite were comparable or even better than what was afforded to the average Canadian worker at the time, while stressing the 1954 accident incited Hydro-Québec to implement health and safety measures geared towards prevention.
It was followed in 2003 by the partial diversion of the Manouane River in order to increase the flow by 30.8 m3/s and the annual production of the Bersimis power stations by 378 gigawatt-hours. The $50 million project involved building a roller-compacted concrete
dam
9 m (29.5 ft) high and a 90 m (295.3 ft) long, a spillway
, three dikes
and a diversion channel.
The project was highly controversial and the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE), who conducted public hearings in 2001, judged the project "unacceptable" due to the impacts reduced flows would have on the atlantic salmon
and on various recreational and economic uses of the river. However, the BAPE report was dismissed by Environment minister André Boisclair
, who authorized the project in October 2002.
In the fall of 2007, Hydro-Québec announced it was studying the possibility of digging a second underground tunnel between the Pipmuacan Reservoir and the generating station, because the original tunnel is partially obstructed by silt
. The $200 million project was indefinitely postponed early in 2009 after the company conducted a cost-benefit analysis
.
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
and a hydroelectric power station
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
built by Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. Based in Montreal, the company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec....
on the Betsiamites River
Betsiamites River
The Betsiamites is a river of Côte-Nord, Quebec, Canada, which joins the Saint Lawrence River.The Pipmuacan Reservoir, impounded by the Bersimis-1 Dam, is roughly halfway down its course.-Hydro-electric facilities:...
, in Lac-au-Brochet
Lac-au-Brochet, Quebec
Lac-au-Brochet is an unorganized territory in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. It makes up over 83% of the La Haute-Côte-Nord Regional County Municipality....
, 85 km (52.8 mi) north of the town of Forestville, Quebec
Forestville, Quebec
Forestville is a town in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River along Route 138, approximately southwest of Baie-Comeau. There is a vehicle and passenger ferry service from Forestville to Rimouski, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence...
. Construction started in 1953 and the power station was commissioned in 1956 with an initial nameplate capacity of 912 megawatts.
It is the first plant ever built by Hydro-Québec and it has been described as a turning point in the history of electricity in province, paving the way for the takeover of all private utilities by the government-owned corporation
Government-owned corporation
A government-owned corporation, state-owned company, state-owned entity, state enterprise, publicly owned corporation, government business enterprise, or parastatal is a legal entity created by a government to undertake commercial activities on behalf of an owner government...
in 1963. Three years later, the first plant was followed by a second one, built 30 km (18.6 mi) downstream. Bersimis-2
Bersimis-2 generating station
The Bersimis-2 generating station is a dam and a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station built by Hydro-Québec on the Betsiamites River, in Lac-au-Brochet, north of the town of Forestville, Quebec...
entered service in 1959.
With upgrades, a major overhaul in the 1990s and further river diversions, Bersimis-1 installed capacity has been increased over time to its current 1,178 megawatts.
Geography
The Betsiamites River, also known as the Bersimis, is located halfway between the SaguenaySaguenay River
The Saguenay River is a major river of Quebec, Canada.It drains Lac Saint-Jean in the Laurentian Highlands, leaving at Alma and running east, and passes the city of Saguenay. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River at Tadoussac....
and Outardes rivers
Rivière aux Outardes
The Rivière aux Outardes or Outardes River is a river in Quebec, Canada. The river originates in the Otish Mountains, and flows in a southerly direction for its entire course. It passes through Lake Plétipi and Burnt Islands Lake , and widens about midway to form the large Outardes 4 Reservoir...
, on the north shore
Côte-Nord
Côte-Nord is the second largest administrative region by land area in Quebec, Canada, after Nord-du-Québec...
of the Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
, 300 km (186.4 mi) downstream from Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
. With the exception of an Innu
Innu
The Innu are the indigenous inhabitants of an area they refer to as Nitassinan , which comprises most of the northeastern portions of the provinces of Quebec and some western portions of Labrador...
reserve
Indian reserve
In Canada, an Indian reserve is specified by the Indian Act as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." The Act also specifies that land reserved for the use and benefit of a band which is not...
at Betsiamites
Betsiamites, Quebec
Betsiamites, also known as Pessamit , is a First Nations reserve and Innu community in the Canadian province of Quebec, located about southwest from Baie-Comeau along the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the mouth of the Betsiamites River...
, at the mouth of the river
River delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
, the area is scarcely populated.
The word Betsiamites or Pessamit is from the innu language
Innu-aimun
Innu-aimun or Montagnais is an Algonquian language spoken by over 11,000 people, called the Innu, in Labrador and Quebec in Eastern Canada...
and means "the assembly place of the lampreys". Bersimis was not used by either the Innu
Innu
The Innu are the indigenous inhabitants of an area they refer to as Nitassinan , which comprises most of the northeastern portions of the provinces of Quebec and some western portions of Labrador...
s, the French
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
or the French Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
s, but was introduced by British admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield
Henry Wolsey Bayfield
Admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield was a British naval officer and surveyor.- Early life and career :Bayfield was born in Kingston-upon-Hull, to John Wolsey Bayfield and Eliza Petit. His family was an ancient one, who at one time lived at Bayfield Hall in Norfolk...
, in his hydrographic surveys of the Saint Lawrence River of 1837. The Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
used the name when opened a trading post
Trading post
A trading post was a place or establishment in historic Northern America where the trading of goods took place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route....
in 1855, as did the post office
Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post , is the Canadian crown corporation which functions as the country's primary postal operator...
in 1863. After 2 decades of efforts, residents and the Quebec government
Government of Quebec
The Government of Quebec refers to the provincial government of the province of Quebec. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867....
convinced the federal government
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
to start using Betsiamites in 1919. But administrative use of Bersimis perdured for decades and Hydro-Québec used it in the 1950s to name its facility in the area.
Located in the Central Laurentians ecoregion of the Boreal Shield Ecozone, the hinterland
Hinterland
The hinterland is the land or district behind a coast or the shoreline of a river. Specifically, by the doctrine of the hinterland, the word is applied to the inland region lying behind a port, claimed by the state that owns the coast. The area from which products are delivered to a port for...
is heavily forested and dominated by softwood
Softwood
The term softwood is used to describe wood from trees that are known as gymnosperms.Conifers are an example. It may also be used to describe trees, which tend to be evergreen, notable exceptions being bald cypress and the larches....
species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
: black spruce (Picea mariana), balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white spruce (Picea glauca). In 1937, the Quebec government
Government of Quebec
The Government of Quebec refers to the provincial government of the province of Quebec. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867....
granted a forest concession to the Anglo Canadian Pulp & Paper Co. to supply its Forestville
Forestville, Quebec
Forestville is a town in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River along Route 138, approximately southwest of Baie-Comeau. There is a vehicle and passenger ferry service from Forestville to Rimouski, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence...
mill, on the coast. The area is described as "a sportsman's paradise, where fish, moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
, bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
and a host of other game creatures
Game (food)
Game is any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated. Game animals are also hunted for sport.The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world. This will be influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted view about what can or...
abound".
More interestingly from an engineering perspective, the river is well suited for hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
development. The river falls 373 m (1,223.8 ft) over 160 km (99.4 mi), between Lake Pipmuacan, and the delta, including an initial drop of 213 m (698.8 ft) on the first 30 km (18.6 mi). The site was also ideal because the river flow could be controlled very easily at the outlet of Lac Cassé. More development was also possible at a second location, approximately 30 km (18.6 mi) downstream, to capitalize from a further 113 m (370.7 ft) drop. The second site was developed between 1956 and 1959 and came to be known as Bersimis-2
Bersimis-2 generating station
The Bersimis-2 generating station is a dam and a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station built by Hydro-Québec on the Betsiamites River, in Lac-au-Brochet, north of the town of Forestville, Quebec...
.
Background
The post-war boom in Quebec created an unprecedent increase in electricity demand in Quebec. Planners, at Hydro-Québec and other public utilities serving the province, were kept busy looking for ways to increase supply. In the MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
area, the addition of 12 more units at the Beauharnois generating station
Beauharnois Hydroelectric Power Station
The Beauharnois Hydroelectric Power Station is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station along the Saint Lawrence Seaway on the Saint Lawrence River, in Quebec, Canada. The station was built in three phases, and comprises 38 turbines, capable of generating up to of electrical power...
would not be sufficient to meet the steady increase in demand as early as 1956.
Quebec's largest private utility faced the same problem. Although the Shawinigan Water & Power Company (SWP) added units at its Rapide-Blanc and La Tuque facilities while building the brand new 184-MW Shawinigan-3 (1949) and the 300-MW Trenche generating station in 1953, company executives were eager to increase capacity by getting the government to award new hydraulic concessions on undeveloped rivers.
SWP sets its sight on the promising rivers in northeastern Quebec. In 1948, its engineering subsidiary, Shawinigan Engineering, surveyed the North Shore rivers and started planning for the construction of a 1,000,000 horsepower (746 MW) generating station on the Betsiamites River, 300 kilometres (186 mi) downstream of Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
. The drainage was easily regulated from its source, Lac Cassé, and according to preliminary calculations, developing the remote site would cost $125 per horsepower
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
, a cost low enough to offset the cost of 650 kilometres (403.9 mi) power lines to bring the power to Quebec's largest cities.
But the Quebec government decided otherwise. The hydraulic concession was granted instead to government-owned Hydro-Québec in September 1951. According to Claude Bellavance, an economic historian who wrote a comprehensive book on the rise and fall of SWP, this decision by the Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis served as the 16th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from 1936 to 1939 and 1944 to 1959. A founder and leader of the highly conservative Union Nationale party, he rose to power after exposing the misconduct and patronage of Liberal Premier Louis-Alexandre...
government had major consequences on the future of the company, which was bought and merged by Hydro-Québec in 1963. In hindsight, writes Bellavance, this move represented a major step towards the re-appropriation of this economic sector by the State, making Hydro-Québec the main if not the sole entity in charge of hydroelectric development in the province.
Construction
Preliminary work began in June 1953. The first step involved building infrastructures to deliver 500,000 tons of equipment, food and supplies to the 5,000 workers on site, including a wharf and a warehouse in Forestville and 230 km (142.9 mi) of roadwork in the hinterland. Everything, from sundries to cement, was shipped to Forestville, then unloaded at the Hydro-Québec wharf in Forestville and loaded into trucks for the trek to the interior.The 2-lane road from Forestville to Labrieville is now part of the Quebec highway network and is now known as Route 385
Quebec Route 385
Route 385 is a provincial highway located in the Côte-Nord region in eastern Quebec. The highway runs from the junction of Route 138 in Forestville and ends over 80 kilometers further north into large wooded areas which the main purpose of the road is for the wood industry in the Côte-Nord region.-...
.
Labrieville
But even before starting work on the dam and power station, a stable supply of electricity was required. Hydro-Québec built a temporary hydroelectric plant at nearby Lac Cassé between November 1952 and July 1953. The 15,000-horsepowerHorsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
(12 MW) hydroelectric generating station supplied the construction sites and camps. The equipment used for the temporary plant came from the Saint-Timothée generating station, a small hydro plant in the Montreal area dismantled by Hydro-Québec in 1949.
Construction of Labrieville, a village named in honor of Napoléon-Alexandre Labrie, founding bishop
Bishop (Catholic Church)
In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and is responsible for teaching the Catholic faith and ruling the Church....
of the Gulf of St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Diocese
Roman Catholic Diocese of Baie-Comeau
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Baie-Comeau is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Rimouski. It was elevated as the Vicariate Apostolic of Golfe St-Laurent on 12 September 1905 and as the Diocese of Golfe St-Laurent on 24 November 1945...
, began in June 1953. Besides temporary quarters for workers, an 8-classroom school, a 400-seat church, inn, an administrative and commercial center and 117 homes were built. The first tenant took possession of a dwelling on November 16, 1953, and the village was completed in 1955.
Described as a "jewel set in the ruggedness of wild country", the village was located in the Betsiamite River valley a short distance from the generating station. Improvements in telecommunications and remote-controlled operations made it redundant, and the company chose to close Labrieville in 1974.
Dam
The actual construction of the dams and power plant kicked off in October 1953. Two rock-filled structures were built to create the 750 sqkm Pipmuacan ReservoirPipmuacan Reservoir
The Pipmuacan Reservoir is a man-made lake on the boundary of the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean and Côte-Nord regions of Quebec, Canada, about north of Chicoutimi. It is used to control the flow for downstream hydro-electric generating stations on the Betsiamites River and, through Lake Pamouscachiou,...
, increasing the surfaces of lakes Pipmuacan and Cassé: the first, 674 m (2,211.3 ft) long and 74 m (242.8 ft) high, is built between two mountains surrounding the Lac Cassé, the second, 315 m (1,033.5 ft) long, curtailed the release of water into the Desroches River.
Vast quantities of clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
was required to make the impervious cores of the rock-filled dams. A sufficient quantity was found nearby by surveyors with the assistance of native guides, who recalled seeing beaver
Beaver
The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
s fetching the material for their own dams.
A mountain between the two dams was cut down to build a spillway for the reservoir. Both dams are similar in conception to the Kenney Dam
Kenney Dam
The Kenney Dam is a rock-filled hydroelectric dam on the Nechako River, 96 km south of Vanderhoof, British Columbia, forming the Nechako Reservoir, the first section of which immediately behind the dam is Knewstubb Lake...
built in 1952 by Alcan
Alcan
Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. is a Canadian company based in Montreal. It was created on November 15, 2007 as the result of the merger between Rio Tinto PLC's Canadian subsidiary, Rio Tinto Canada Holding Inc., and Canadian company Alcan Inc. On the same date, Alcan Inc. was renamed Rio Tinto Alcan Inc..Rio...
as part of their Kemano
Kemano, British Columbia
Kemano is a settlement situated 75 km southeast of Kitimat in the province of British Columbia in Canada. It was built to service a hydroelectric power station, built to provide energy for Alcan to smelt aluminium from its ore. The powerhouse is built 427 m inside the base of Mt Dubose...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
generating station.
Generating station
The underground powerhousePower station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
is located 12 km (7.5 mi) from the dam. A 31 feet (9.4 m) diameter, concrete-lined water intake was dug in the Laurentian Plateau
Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien , is a vast geological shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American or Laurentia craton. It is an area mostly composed of igneous rock which relates to its long volcanic history...
granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
to bring water to a manifold
Manifold (general engineering)
A manifold, in systems for moving fluids or gases is a junction of pipes or channels, typically bringing one into many or many into one.-Applications:*Heated-manifold direct-injection die casting for zinc die casting....
, where individual penstock
Penstock
A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydraulic turbines and sewerage systems. It is a term that has been inherited from the technology of wooden watermills....
s feed the plant's 8 units. Work on the tunnel was carried out at an average speed of 732 ft (223.1 m) per week.
The surge tank
Surge tank
A surge tank is a standpipe or storage reservoir at the downstream end of a closed aqueduct or feeder pipe to absorb sudden rises of pressure as well as to quickly provide extra water during a brief drop in pressure...
has been carved from rock and is located 60 ft (18.3 m) from the first penstock. A 27 ft (8.2 m) shaft rises vertically 313 ft (95.4 m), connects to the bottom of the surge tank, 84 ft (25.6 m) in diameter and 360 ft (109.7 m) deep, and opens on to a hilltop overlooking the village.
The powerhouse was carved inside the mountain and is accessed through a 270 ft (82.3 m) tunnel. Inside the 365 feet (111.3 m) long, 65 feet (19.8 m) high and 80 feet (24.4 m) wide cavity were installed eight 150,000-horsepower
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
Francis turbine
Francis turbine
The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine that was developed by James B. Francis in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts....
s, connected to 13.8 kilovolt generators. Parallel to the powerhouse, a tailrace tunnel discharges the water to the river channel below.
Power lines
Construction of the 2 double-circuit high voltageHigh voltage
The term high voltage characterizes electrical circuits in which the voltage used is the cause of particular safety concerns and insulation requirements...
overhead power line
Overhead power line
An overhead power line is an electric power transmission line suspended by towers or utility poles. Since most of the insulation is provided by air, overhead power lines are generally the lowest-cost method of transmission for large quantities of electric energy...
s built to carry power to Quebec City and Montreal attracted considerable interest in the engineering trade press
Trade journal
A trade magazine, also called a professional magazine, is a magazine published with the intention of target marketing to a specific industry or type of trade. The collective term for this area of publishing is the trade press....
and contributed to raise the profile of Hydro-Québec's engineers internationally. From the power station, the 315-kilovolt (kV) power lines, among the first to be built in North America at this voltage, follow a westerly direction to reach the Sault-aux-Cochons River, where they turn south following the valley. Near the mouth of the river, the line takes a south-westerly orientation, parallel to the Saint Lawrence River and crosses the Saguenay River
Saguenay River
The Saguenay River is a major river of Quebec, Canada.It drains Lac Saint-Jean in the Laurentian Highlands, leaving at Alma and running east, and passes the city of Saguenay. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River at Tadoussac....
fjord
Fjord
Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...
near Petit-Saguenay
Petit-Saguenay, Quebec
Petit-Saguenay is a municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec, located in Le Fjord-du-Saguenay Regional County Municipality. The municipality, located on Route 170 near L'Anse-Saint-Jean, had a population of 828 in the Canada 2001 Census, which dropped to 780 in the 2006 census.-References:...
. Two sets of crossing pylons, separated by a span width of 1.6 km (0.994196378639691 mi) were built on each side of river in order not to interfere with shipping.
A third 315 kV power line to Baie-Comeau was built to bring power to the Gaspé Peninsula
Gaspé Peninsula
The Gaspésie , or Gaspé Peninsula or the Gaspé, is a peninsula along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, extending into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
, via 4-55 km (34.2 mi) submarine power cable
Submarine power cable
Submarine power cables are major transmission cables for carrying electric power below the surface of the water. These are called "submarine" because they usually carry electric power beneath salt water but it is also possible to use submarine power cables beneath fresh water...
s, linking the Manicouagan peninsula to the Les Boules substation in Métis-sur-Mer
Métis-sur-Mer, Quebec
Métis-sur-Mer is a village in the La Mitis Regional County Municipality within the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec.This area was first settled by Scottish immigrants during the early 19th century....
. Laying the cables at a depth of 370 m (1,213.9 ft) proved difficult, due to high winds and heavy waves, damaging two cables. A first attempt to power the cables was made in December 1954, but they became operational in November 1955, almost a year later. Starting in 1959, corrosion and the action of ice caused repeated failures leading to its decommissioning in 1962.
Working conditions
Allegation of mistreatment of workers on the worksite stirred controversy in early 1954. Reporter Pierre LaportePierre Laporte
Pierre Laporte was a Canadian lawyer, journalist and politician who was the Deputy Premier and Minister of Labour of the province of Quebec before being kidnapped and killed by members of the group Front de libération du Québec during the October Crisis. Mr...
published a six-part series in Montreal's Le Devoir
Le Devoir
Le Devoir is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and the rest of Canada. It was founded by journalist, politician, and nationalist Henri Bourassa in 1910....
on the construction of Bersimis-1 in January 1954. In his stories, Laporte reports on the long hours, bad pay and unhealthy working conditions, mismanagement and shady contracting practices. The stories, published a few days after 10 men died in a scaffolding collapse on January 22, 1954, generated heated debates at the Legislature
National Assembly of Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec is the legislative body of the Province of Quebec. The Lieutenant Governor and the National Assembly compose the Parliament of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other British-style parliamentary systems.The National Assembly was formerly the...
. Inspired by Laporte's reporting, Liberal opposition leader Georges-Émile Lapalme
Georges-Émile Lapalme
Georges-Émile Lapalme was a politician in Quebec, Canada, member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec, and leader of the Quebec Liberal Party.-Background:...
accused the Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis served as the 16th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from 1936 to 1939 and 1944 to 1959. A founder and leader of the highly conservative Union Nationale party, he rose to power after exposing the misconduct and patronage of Liberal Premier Louis-Alexandre...
government of mismanagement.
In a history M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
thesis submitted in 2009, Richard Landry concluded that pay and working conditions onsite were comparable or even better than what was afforded to the average Canadian worker at the time, while stressing the 1954 accident incited Hydro-Québec to implement health and safety measures geared towards prevention.
Manouane River diversion
In 1994, Hydro-Québec undertook the refit of the power station's 8 units. The project was completed in 2003.It was followed in 2003 by the partial diversion of the Manouane River in order to increase the flow by 30.8 m3/s and the annual production of the Bersimis power stations by 378 gigawatt-hours. The $50 million project involved building a roller-compacted concrete
Roller-compacted concrete
Roller-compacted concrete or rolled concrete is a special blend of concrete that has essentially the same ingredients as conventional concrete but in different ratios, and increasingly with partial substitution of fly ash for Portland cement. RCC is a mix of cement/fly ash, water, sand, aggregate...
dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
9 m (29.5 ft) high and a 90 m (295.3 ft) long, a spillway
Spillway
A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of flows from a dam or levee into a downstream area, typically being the river that was dammed. In the UK they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways release floods so that the water does not overtop and damage or even destroy...
, three dikes
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
and a diversion channel.
The project was highly controversial and the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE), who conducted public hearings in 2001, judged the project "unacceptable" due to the impacts reduced flows would have on the atlantic salmon
Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon is a species of fish in the family Salmonidae, which is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into the north Atlantic and the north Pacific....
and on various recreational and economic uses of the river. However, the BAPE report was dismissed by Environment minister André Boisclair
André Boisclair
André Boisclair is a politician in Quebec, Canada. He was the leader of the Parti Québécois, a social democratic and separatist party in Quebec....
, who authorized the project in October 2002.
Intake tunnel
Inspections of the 12 km (7.5 mi) intake tunnel in 1979, 1981 and 1983 have showed its walls were covered by a 5 mm (0.196850393700787 in) layer of a black sticky slime, decreasing the capacity of the generating station by approximately 39 MW. Between 1993 and 1995, various methods were tested to clean the surface and apply different coating products to limit the slime deposit.In the fall of 2007, Hydro-Québec announced it was studying the possibility of digging a second underground tunnel between the Pipmuacan Reservoir and the generating station, because the original tunnel is partially obstructed by silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
. The $200 million project was indefinitely postponed early in 2009 after the company conducted a cost-benefit analysis
Cost-benefit analysis
Cost–benefit analysis , sometimes called benefit–cost analysis , is a systematic process for calculating and comparing benefits and costs of a project for two purposes: to determine if it is a sound investment , to see how it compares with alternate projects...
.
See also
- Bersimis-2 generating stationBersimis-2 generating stationThe Bersimis-2 generating station is a dam and a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station built by Hydro-Québec on the Betsiamites River, in Lac-au-Brochet, north of the town of Forestville, Quebec...
- History of Hydro-QuébecHistory of Hydro-QuébecHydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. The company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec. Its head office is located in Montreal.-Origins:...
- List of power stations in Quebec
- List of conventional hydroelectric power stations