Status: Active
The West Timiskaming Dam is 1 of 2 federally owned dams spanning the Ottawa River near Long Sault Island in Ontario. The dams were originally built between 1909 and 1914, and the Ontario (west) dam was replaced between 2014 and 2017. It was subjected to a high-flow event during the spring of 2019, which may have caused erosion downstream of the structure.
To address this potential issue, Public Services and Procurement Canada reached out to our Ocean, Coastal and River Engineering Research Centre to investigate both the probable cause and methods to prevent further erosion in the future. In the Large Area Basin, experts from the National Research Council built a large-scale physical model representing the dam structure and portions of the upstream and downstream river. With the physical model, engineers and researchers tested various erosion-mitigation options that could be implemented to improve the West Timiskaming Dam's resiliency to downstream erosion. Adequate protection to the infrastructure will improve its resilience against scour and erosion, given the high flows running through the dam at certain times of the year.
Objectives
- Replicate the historic conditions at the dam to provide Public Services and Procurement Canada with data and accurate information on the physical processes that may have caused the existing erosion, as well as information on the solution to downstream erosion to inform future decisions and investments
- Develop solutions to reduce downstream erosion at the Timiskaming Dam, to increase its operational lifespan
Deliverables
- Recommendations on actions that can be taken to limit the potential for downstream erosion at the dam
Collaborators
- Public Services and Procurement Canada
Project team
- Mitchel Provan, Research Engineer, Ocean Coastal and River Engineering Research Centre
- Paul Knox, Senior Research Engineer, Ocean Coastal and River Engineering Research Centre
- David Hnatiw, Electronics and Instrumentation Specialist, Ocean Coastal and River Engineering Research Centre
- Alistair Rayner, Technical Officer, Ocean Coastal and River Engineering Research Centre
