Boundary Dam Power Plant

SPC Boundary Dam, Power Station

Boundary Dam Generating Station Postcard, shortly after opening
courtesy Grant Walker, CA

Sask. Power Boundary Dam, ca May 2003
taken by my late brother, Don Gent
Boundary Dam is Sask. Power's largest Thermal Generating Station, and the largest lignite coal-burning station in Canada.

Cost $27 million to build, one record says $40 million dollar project.

Dam located on Section 5, Township 2, Range 8, W2

Dam clearing tender sent out for 800 acres to be cleared.
Deadline Friday Feb 1, 1957
1600 acres was to be inundated with water.

Coal fired station located near Estevan
It has six units
with a combined generating capacity of 813 net MW
-two 62 net MW units commissioned in 1959
-two 139 net MW units were added in 1970
-one 139 net MW unit was added in 1973
-one 273 net MW unit was added in 1978
electrostatic precipitators were added on all units in July 2003

Tenders requested July 1956

Work on the Dam Site, for Boundary Dam, 1957

Earthmoving, Dam Structure, roads etc. were the job of the General Contractor, Poole Construction Company Ltd. Regina
Ernest E. Poole came to Western Canada as a Carpenter, started business as E. E. Poole General Contractor, in Stoughton SK.
and joined with James Martin, a Saskatchewan contractor, in the spring of 1906 to form Martin & Poole Construction.
Martin retired in 1907, and company continued as Poole Construction.
Ernest Edward Poole Bio

Sub Contractor from Estevan, Dick Bond Ltd, His company started in the autumn of 1956,
moving 1,250,000 cu. yds. of dirt. Bond's equipment, Cat D8 and D7 tractors, with # 463 scrapers, and Cat DW15 tractors with # 428 Scrapers.
Suppliers of the heavy equipment, Kramer Tractor Co. Ltd. Regina.

Instrumentation and Controls, George Kent (Canada) Ltd.

Over 4,500 Gallons of paint applied by Yarnton Decorating Co. Ltd. , 2837 South Railway, Regina

Heating, Ventilating, - W. W. Hicks & Co., 567 Banning St. Winnipeg MB

B&W Steam Generating Units
Babcock-Wilcox
C.A. Parsons of Canada Ltd, installed the 2- 66 kw turbo Generators, Units, Condensers, and auxiliaries
Generators supplied by C.A. Parsons, Newcastle-on-Tyne, weighed 820 tons each.

The Dam cost itself cost $1,500,000.00
Max height of 80 ft above the valley floor, over 1,000 ft long, base width 800 ft.
Top angled down to 40 ft at the top. Roadway and concrete bridge on top.
It took 600 tons of reinforcing steel.

The reservoir was estimated to hold 13,500,000,000 gallons of water.

10,500 cubic yds of concrete was made at an onsite batch plant. 68,000 bags of concrete were used.

Dominion Bridge, fabricated and erected 3,200 tons for the Principal building
300 tons for separate buildings,
100 tons for switching structures,
160 tons for steel gratings,
3,050 tons for reinforcing steel.

Manitoba Bridge and Engineering Works, Winnipeg, MB.
4 stainless steel clad coal bunkers, each with twin coned outlets. They also galvanized the steel structures in the switchyard.

An Architect drawing, Mar 1957
from the ENE direction

Aerial view of the area, 1959

Between B & C is located the Saskatchewan Power Corporation, Steam Generated Power Plant, called Boundary Dam
Located only a few miles south of Estevan Saskatchewan and few miles north of the North Dakota, USA border.

Saturday, May 14, 1960, at 1:00 PM, Plant was officially commissioned,
General A. G. L. McNaughton, Canadian Chairman of the International Joint Commission, operated a switch in front of the plant.
Hon. Tommy C. Douglas unveiled a bronze plaque to commemorate the event.

It supplies power to a huge part of Saskatchewan and parts of the States
All the Lignite Coal used in this plant, is mined nearby in the Estevan area
In 2003 the plant underwent a major rebuild

When it was built it was a 130 ft high structure, not counting the brick chimney
Coal was hauled in 50 ton Coal haulers, to a hopper at the Primary Crusher.
from here it drops toa conveyor to the secondary crusher.
Ready now for entry into the plant, or storage.
Carried on through the transfer house.
From the transfer house, a 200 ft+ conveyor takes the coal to a hole in the top of the plant.
Pulverisers reduce the coal to a flour like powder, ready to be burned.
coal bunkers 60ft tall high up in the building hold the coal.
base of the plant is brick, and sheet metal higher up.
water enters the intake chambers, travelling through revolving filters.
water enters the plant through tunnels, from the intake chamber, through 12ft sq, 5 ton each, gates.
Between each pair of gates, water screens, cleaning the water.
the bottoms of the 3 wells in the pumphouse, will be 60ft below the reservoir level.
2 pumps are in each well.
these drive the water through 6ft pipes, 300 yds away.
Pumphouse motors 30 tons each, 1250 hp each.
from the plant the water exits via a canal intake chamber.
James Stephenson was superintendent
Jack Haines, resident mechanical engineer.
consulting engineers Ewbank and Partners (Canada) Ltd.
PFRA, dam design and dam construction

Boundary Dam 1975, with Utility Coals Hauler in front

Oct 5, 1973 5th Generating Plant was commissioned by Industry Minister, Thorson, minister in charge of the SPC
increasing capacity to 582,000 KW, from 432,000 KW.
Jack Haynes, Plant Manager at the time.

Long Creek Archaeology Site

older Power Plants in the area

Ext Links-

Great Map of the Souris River Water Basin
note- this is not my map, nor do I control the link
it may or may not work in the future
http://www.ijc.org/rel/pdf/souris_river_basin.pdf

©