ABSTRACT
D.P. Moore Consulting Engineer, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
A.D. Watson BC Hydro, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
ABSTRACT: BC Hydro is an electric utility located in mountainous terrain with a broad range of valuable assets built in a variety of rock masses ranging from massive granite to weak shale. Examples of significant rock structures that are vital to BC Hydro’s operations include dam foundations, underground powerhouses, landslides, power and diversion tunnels, open cut excavations, canals, and foundations for powerhouses, penstocks, and transmission towers. Rock engineering processes include site characterization, monitoring, modeling and interpretation, design, construction, long-term surveillance and maintenance. These processes typically span decades and even a relatively young utility like BC Hydro maintains facilities that are almost 100 years old. With a significant rock-related workload, BC Hydro is well-experienced with a variety of rock engineering consultants. The paper explores this experience and presents characteristics of a great rock engineering consultant, from a hydroelectric utility client’s perspective.
