Monday morning… our plane finally flew!

Here I am in Laurie River. The plane ride was a little stressful not gonna lie, but quite enjoyable. It took us about 45 minutes to get here from Thompson. I have many pictures that I’ve taken from the last few days, however they’ll have to wait until I blog again as I do not have a means of transfering them to a computer. So you’ll have to sit tight for a few days.

I forgot to explain in my last blog, as you know I work the eight on six off schedule. The way it worked out for me to be here is because the welder, along with the rest of the employees here work the same schedule. I came directly up to Thompson the day before my regular shift instead of going to Grand Rapids.

Due to the fact we missed four days of our shift waiting for our plane to leave, we had to catch up on a lot of work in a short period of time. Which meant a few long days. We first began work on the fire pump spool I mentioned earlier and was able to get that done in a day, then began working on the sump modifications which we were able to complete before departure. Again, I have many exciting photos I will post asap, I will then describe the job for you in more detail.

We’ll be flying out tomorrow morning if the weather holds up for us. Wish me luck.

I’m in Thompson, Manitoba. I was asked to come help out a fellow Hydro Welder and close friend on a welding job at a place called Laurie River.

Laurie River is a Manitoba Hydro Generating Station, located approximately 80 km West of Lynn Lake. It is only accessible via plane or rail. We are going to be flying out of Thompson to get there.

That is, if our plane ever leaves. We were supposed to fly out on a Thursday morning, and here we are Saturday still in Thompson. Due to the weather our plane was postponed until tomorrow. I guess we’ll find out if we can head out or not.

We will be doing some pipe welding on a sump and a fire pup spool. Even though I have my 4 inch Pressure Pipe ticket, I have not yet been at a Hydro Location where I’ve used it, which is why I requested to be included on this job.

It’s not every day you can say you fly out to remote locations such as these for work. I am very excited about the experience, especially the flying portion, as I’ve never actually been on a plane. Not gonna lie though, I am very very nervous. It’s been quite stressful having the plane delayed so often the butterflies are going crazy in your stomach all the way to the airport to find out you have to do it all over again tomorrow. It’ll all be worth it though.

Cross your fingers… hope we fly tomorrow…

The Grand Rapids Generating Station is located on the Saskatchewan River between Cedar Lake and Lake Winnipeg.

It has a capacity of approximately 479 megawatts.

Construction began in January 1960.

The station was fully operational by November 1968.

The first three turbine generators were running by 1965 and the last was running by 1968.

Turbines turn the four generators, each having vertical variable pitch blades with a capacity of 120 MW each.

The total project cost $117-million (1968 dollars)

The powerhouse is 152 m long

Intake Structure (my view out of the weld shop windows)

Four penstocks (huge round pipes approximately 8.9 m in diameter) lead downward at an angle of 22 degrees to the turbine runners. Water flows through the 69 m long penstocks to turn the turbines that produce electricity

Each penstock has two gates.

The forebay area is 3,500 km².

Over the years, new designs have created many features that reduce the station’s impact on the local environment

When construction of the dam began, crews discovered historic and prehistoric remains, which revealed an interesting history of various peoples who had lived there during earlier times.

The holidays and the job transfer have been keeping me quite occupied, but I’m back to work again with plenty of news.

This morning I drove up to the Grand Rapids Generating Station, and, when I got here, everyone was amazingly helpful and kind and made me feel right at home. By lunch time, I was settled in at work and at the gorgeous staff house. I was given a walk through of the dam and surrounding area in the afternoon.

Driving up to the Grand Rapids Generating Station

Tomorrow will technically be my first day on the job. As I mentioned in an earlier blog entry, we do an eight-on six-off schedule here. I arrived a few days prior to my first shift to work with the current welder here at the dam. He showed me around the station and helped me get a feel of how things work around here. It’s amazing how many different things have been fabricated and welded on throughout the station.

I am extremely excited to document some of the jobs that will be coming my way in the near future. However, I still have a few from the recent past I would love to share with you. So check back often to see some of my past jobs as well as some great photos and documentation of the Grand Rapids Generating Station.