Round Butte Dam Selective Water Withdrawal (Hydropower)

“With the new structure and restoration of fish passage on the Deschutes, the Pelton Round Butte hydro project has been certified by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute as a source of green energy.” Deschutes Passage website – overview

Successfully addressing concerns about downstream water temperature, troublesome currents above the Round Butte Dam and a working solution to fish transfer around the dam, while also continuing power generation from the hydroelectric facility, PGE needed a sound plan for installation of a complex Selective Water Withdrawal structure to be attached to its existing intake. Collaboration among a multi-disciplinary team of dedicated, forward-thinking professionals was critical. Barnard joined this team at the 25 percent design phase, contributing constructability ideas to the solution that focused on minimizing impacts to hydropower production. Setting a six-story structure that weighs 1.4 million pounds in a precise position 270 feet below water’s surface on an active intake required focus and dedication to detail.

Innovation also came to the fore in our method of attaching the structure to the existing concrete powerhouse intake on the reservoir floor during a planned two-day powerhouse outage. Underwater work to prepare the foundation and anchor the structure was performed during the peaking power plant’s normal nightly outages. Over two years of work on and in the water immediately upstream of the dam, PGE never had to alter its planned outage schedule. Today, clean power continues to be generated at the powerhouse while more natural currents in Lake Billy Chinook draw fish into the fish transfer facility each day.

Round Butte Dam Selective Water Withdrawal (Hydropower)