Cleaning the inside of penstocks that supply water to hydroelectric powerhouses can be a time-consuming and labour-intensive process. This case study illustrates how it was possible to cut the time required to perform this work by more than 80% and reduce man-hours by about 75%. 

The work to be discussed took place at the Bridge River hydroelectric complex in British Columbia, Canada. Bridge River is a mid-sized stream about 120 km long, flowing southeast from the Coastal Mountains and joining the Fraser River near Lillooet. The 492 MW Bridge River hydroelectric complex consists of three dams and stores water for four generating stations. The system uses Bridge River water three times in succession to supply 6% to 8%of British Columbia’s electrical supply.