Churchill Falls tour

Before takeoff from a wooded area along the side of the Churchill River, between Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Churchill Falls, the instrument panel of the helicopter reads “Muskrat.” Nalcor Energy is looking to make Muskrat Falls the site of its second dam on the Churchill River. — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram 1 width:500px;height:280px Flying over the Churchill River. The area around Churchill Falls has higher elevations and a rougher topography than the area of Gull Island or Muskrat Falls downriver. — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram
  2 width:500px;height:280px The switchyard at Churchill Falls is where power from the plant is “stepped up” to a specific output level before being exported. — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram
  3 width:500px;height:280px — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick 4 width:500px;height:280px A model of a Churchill Falls turbine. Nalcor Energy staff said the mechanical workings of hydro stations are all unique, created for the specific body of water they are utilizing. Small differences in design, by engineers, are made in an attempt to maximize the efficiency of the system and the power output.  — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram 5 height:500px;width:280px

An evacuation map offers the general layout of the underground power station. The main area of the station is the powerhouse (labeled at centre), a.k.a. the machine hall, carved out of solid granite and standing at 47 metres high and about 300 metres long. — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram
  6 width:500px;height:280px No one enters the powerhouse without PPE, personal protective equipment. That includes protective eyewear, safety vest or jacket, hard hat and ear plugs. — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram 7 width:500px;height:280px Above ground connections run Churchill Falls power to a nearby switchyard, where the output is boosted to a level allowing the power to travel along transmission lines, mainly to Quebec, with the least amount of power lost along the way. — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram 8 width:500px;height:280px The entrance to the Churchill Falls Generating Station. The site cannot be reached without passing through security and the underground powerhouse can only be visited with a guide.  — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram 9 width:500px;height:280px  The powerhouse floor. — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram
  10 width:500px;height:280px

Overhead cranes inside the powerhouse have a lift capacity of 400 tons a piece. Raising a single main turbine rotor (found inside the coloured box-like coverings) requires two cranes, with a total 800 tons of lift. — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram
  11 height:500px;width:280px Inside a coloured box. — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram
  12 width:500px;height:280px A closer look at one of the overhead cranes. — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram 13 height:500px;width:280px  Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram 14 width:500px;height:280px An office off the floor of the machine hall. — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram
  15 width:500px;height:280px

 Downtunnel, the “Refuge Area” was created in case of emergency underground and includes a diesel generator (shown). The area can be sealed off in the event of an emergency — a fire with heavy smoke, for example — if workers are cut off from other evacuation routes. The refuge area has first aid supplies, sustenance for 30 people for several weeks and a line for communication with the surface.  — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram 16 width:500px;height:280px Above ground connections run Churchill Falls power to a nearby switchyard, where the output is boosted to a level allowing the power to travel along transmission lines, mainly to Quebec, with the least amount of power lost along the way. — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram 17 width:500px;height:280px Part of the Upper Churchill transmission system. The total cost of construction was less than $1 billion ($946 million) with first power in 1971. — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram
  18 height:500px;width:280px In the main elevator inside the Churchill Falls Generating Station, Oral Burry, Nalcor Energy’s manager long-term planning and asset management explains possible destinations inside the power plant. Burry and Lower Churchill project leader Gilbert Bennett led reporters on a tour of the plant. On this elevator, the illuminated number indicates how far in feet the elevator is below sealevel. The powerhouse is 1,020 feet, or 310 metres.  — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram
  19 width:500px;height:280px Reporters grab photos and footage of the powerhouse. As a size comparison, the floor extends the equivalent of threeCanadian football fields. — Photo by Ashley Fitzpatrick/The Telegram 20 width:500px;height:280px