Ear Falls Hydro Dam Penstock

Pierre Gagne Contracting was contracted to work on the project after it had begun and proved to be very challenging. The scope of work was to open a pen stock for the Ear Falls generating station. This was achieved with drilling into a temporary cofferdam through 25 meters of overburden and into bedrock. Blasting was used to open up a channel in the bedrock. The blasted material and the cofferdam was later removed. Drilling and excavating took place on barges. The channel was then dredged with a 150 ton crane using a blasted rock clam bucket.  

The project proved to be very challenging due to environmental restrictions.