B.C.’s Site C dam one step closer to completion
Posted July 31, 2023 7:03 pm.
Last Updated August 2, 2023 11:35 am.
Northeastern B.C.’s Site C dam has reached another significant milestone in completing the estimated ten-year project.
Construction at the site was temporarily halted back in May as the Stoddart Creek wildfire grew — creeping closer to Fort St. John and the project itself.
A Monday morning release from BC Hydro explains that earthfill work on the Site C dam is now done — some 16 million cubic metres of material now fills the 20-storey tall structure across the Peace River.
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The project’s next step is to cap the top of the dam, build a road across it, and start filling the reservoir — which the energy service says is slated to begin in fall 2023. However, the reservoir filling has long been at the centre of controversy surrounding the project, mainly because of how much the Peace River Valley will be flooded in the process.
There have been two tunnels created to divert the river around the dam site. One of the diversion tunnels is now in the process of being closed, which is expected to take 12 weeks.
Construction at Site C started over eight years ago on July 27, 2015, and “remains on track to have all six generating units in-service by 2025.”
According to BC Hydro, the dam will provide yearly energy to the province that could reliably power about 450,000 homes per year once it is finished.
The energy service adds that the completed structure should be able to hold through a major earthquake.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that crews have now begun diverting the Peace River. It has been updated to reflect that it has been diverted since 2020.
