Power House: (Satellite)
73 units with a total capacity of 41.8mw. [hydroreform]
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| Street View, Sep 2019 |
The primary customer was Union Carbide. It needed a lot of electric power to make calcium carbide, an essential ingredient in making acetylene. Eventually, Union Carbide bought the power plant. It changed ownership and started generating power for the grid in 1963. "The headhouse of the Sault Ste. Marie plant is more than a quarter-mile long and contains 80 turbine chambers, only 40 of which were used when the plant was opened. The 40 horizontal turbine mechanisms manufactured and installed in 1902 remain in place at the facility and in operation. The facility's power canal can feed water at 30,000 cubic feet per second -- a volume greater than most rivers -- qualifying it as the largest in the world." [InventionAndTech]
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| mlive, Sheri McWhirter | smcwhirter@mlive.com |
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| I love St. Ignace! posted Thanks to Cloverland Electric Cooperative for this morning's shot of their power plant in Sault Ste. Marie! |
The power canal cuts through sault Ste. Marie.
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| Satellite |
Near the beginning of the power canal is a control structure.
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| Street View, Jun 2012 |
In fact, that is how I learned about this plant.
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| Scott Ward posted In Sault Ste Marie, Michigan we came across this interesting structure that I have been unable to find any info on. It is some kind of dam, that is obvious but the purpose escapes me. Doug Klein: If you have to dewater the canal that brings water to the Edison Sault Hydro plant, you begin by dropping the gates here. |
The power company also had to build gates in the diversion dam so that if they close the gates to the power canal, they can open these gates and release their 30,000cfs flow down the St Marys River Rapids. Otherwise, closing the flow to the power canal would raise the level of Lake Superior. [npshistory, p82]
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| Satellite |
Note that they were still using horizontal shafts in 1901.
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| npshistory, p79 |
This was an early plan. They cut back the length of the shaft by using just one generator instead of two. But they do have the planned four runners on a shaft. [5:18 video @ 1:24]
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| npshistory, p24 |
This is what a turbine looks like in the intake pool.
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| mlive, Sheri McWhirter | smcwhirter@mlive.com |
At least some of the runners are being replaced.
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| mlive, Sheri McWhirter | smcwhirter@mlive.com |
The head is 16-18' (about 5m).
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| 5:18 video @ 1:52 |
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| @ 3:39 |
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