40
Work on the base of the main dam is shown. The concrete mixer on the Quebec side can be seen to the right of centre just below the cableway tower. The main anchor cable for the cableway tower can be seen angling down behind the tower.41
The cement mixer on the Ontario side1948
Des Joachims, Ottawa River, Ontario/Quebec, Canada
42
The completed Concrete mixing plant on the Ontario side is shown here. The 3 concrete mixing plants on this project supplied the total 890,000 cubic yards of concrete required to build the Des Joachims structures.43
The construction of a power station the size of the Des Joachims plant would be no mean task if the site was dry land. Such was of course not the case in the midst of the Ottawa River. Dry land can be achieved and was achieved in the Ottawa River by the use of cofferdams to hold back the water and pumps to dewater the work area.However, the average water flow in the Ottawa River at Des Joachims is ~ 30,000 cubic feet per second and this water can't be stopped flowing for 4 years but it can be diverted to another route. So, for the life of the construction project an alternate channel had to be provided at all times to allow the work to proceed. Major juggling was required to advance the project while providing a flowpath for the river. Some of the images that follow will show the various river diversions in use.
44
Work progress reached full speed in 1948:Atlas Construction Company started work on the McConnell Lake Control Dam.
Work on the main Conveyer Bridge began.
In March the first concrete was poured in the fabrication of the Main Dam.
The Cableway was completed and placed in service.
Bell Lake and McConnell Lake stone crushers were placed in service.
One section of the Conveyor Bridge collapsed killing 6 riggers.
The Rolphton Primary School was opened in September.
In December the Quebec Concrete Mixing Plant was placed in service.
The river was diverted back into the old Ontario channel.
45
McConnell Lake Control Dam construction1949
Des Joachims, Ottawa River, Ontario/Quebec, Canada
46
The McConnell Lake Control Dam, which is shown more than half completed in this image, was started by Atlas Construction Company. This dam is required to spill excess water that cannot be passed through the turbines in the power house. This situation arises in the spring of the year when the normal river flow, augmented by melting snow, exceeds the capacity of the power plant turbines. Most of the year the Control Dam gates are closed and there is no water flow through dam.47
Cribbing for the base of the powerhouse1948
Des Joachims, Ottawa River, Ontario/Quebec, Canada
48
The conveyor bridge shown in this image (running from top left to centre) supported a conveyor belt that carried the concrete from the mixing plant and delivered it to the forms of the Main Dam. The mixing plant can be seen in the centre of the image below and behind the Cableway Tower. The Conveyor bridge construction was begun early in the year and the first concrete poured into the forms of the main dam in March1948.49
Looking from the Ontario side at the frame (form) work1948
Des Joachims, Ottawa River, Ontario/Quebec, Canada
50
This image is primarily of the progress with the main dam concrete but it also provides a good look at the cableway with its load suspended from the cable midway across the river. The cableway which went into service during the summer of 1948 was erected to help construct temporary Bailey bridging across the river, to simplify the installation of the powerhouse and to act as a general carrier during dam construction.51
A crusher at the McConnell Lake pit1948
Des Joachims, Ottawa River, Ontario/Quebec, Canada
52
The crushers at Bell Lake and McConnell Lake both went into service in 1948. These crushers supplied aggregate to the concrete mixing plants. This image shows a Euclid truck unloading rock into the crusher at McConnell Lake pit.Audio Text - Henry Chasse
You see, we were doing the same thing at Bell Lake as you see there. We were
hauling it - see a dragline was loading us, there was two of us up there all the time
hauling steady eh into the crusher - like 35 ton loads at a time and then it was crushed
and belted to Hyro at the dam - their mixer on the Quebec side that is.
53
The conveyor belt crossing the road to the McConnell lake control dam1948
Des Joachims, Ottawa River, Ontario/Quebec, Canada
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