BACKGROUND
The White River Hydro Project is approximately 70 km west of the Town of White River in Ontario, Canada. The project is a partnership between Regional Power and Pic Mobert First Nations. The greenfield project consists of two separate generation sites, Gitchi Animki Bezhig (Upper) and Gitchi Animki Niizh (Lower) located approximately 10 km from each other. The existing White Lake Dam is to be decommissioned as part of the project. The function of lake level and flood control will be carried out by the new Bezhig (Upper) site.

SOLUTION
Hydroelectric concrete hydraulic structures require high resistance to erosion to minimize wearing away of the concrete structure under the action of running water and debris. The Hard-Cem concrete hardening admixture is the perfect solution to this challenge as it extends concrete wear life 2-6 times under harsh conditions. When added to concrete, Hard-Cem's proprietary technology extends the concrete life, improving structural safety, maintaining hydraulic capacity-functionality and extending concrete service life or delaying costly concrete surface repair works.

MWH Engineering has had previous success using Hard-Cem to enhance the erosion resistance of a concrete hydroelectric structure in Sechelt, B.C. Based on the excellent previous performance they repeat specified Hard-Cem for this remote project. The White River Project concrete specification called for Hard-Cem to be used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions for all concrete exposed to running water, a standard dosage of 40 kg per m3 of concrete, for Exposure Class F-1 with air content of 5% +/- 1%.

Lafarge established a portable silo on site and 240 tonnes of bulk Hard-Cem was transported from our manufacturing facility in Calgary, Alberta, Canada to Lafarge’s batch plant located at the remote site in Northern Ontario.

Engineer: MWH Global
Contractor:Pic Mobert Hydro Inc
Ready Mix: Lafarge Canada ECAN Projects
Total Area: Over 6,000 m3
Products: Kryton Hard-Cem®