H.G. Acres Seminar - April 28, 2006
April is fast approaching and preparations are under way for this year's H.G. Acres Seminar. The theme will be "Dam Engineering Design, Construction and Rehabilitation." As more information becomes available, it will be posted here.

CCE Award of Excellence
We recently received the CCE Award of Excellence for Dam Safety Programs in Costa Rica and El Salvador. For this project, our team defined appropriate dam safety standards and regulations, as well as who the regulators would be. We also developed dam safety assessment procedures and trained local staff to perform them. The assignment involved transferring nearly three decades of Canadian dam safety experience to Costa Rica and El Salvador within one year. The award was presented jointly by Canadian Consulting Engineer magazine and the Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada on November 23, 2005.

Bella Vista hydro development
ENEL Latin America has awarded us with the Engineering Services Contract for Phase I of the Bella Vista I hydroelectric project in west-central Guatemala. We will conduct detailed conceptual design of a new 55-MW powerhouse with two Pelton turbines, a concrete face rock-filled dam (23 m high by 80 m long), desander, penstock, surge tank, access roads and 55 km of transmission line. The design must accommodate the proposed future Bella Vista II project, with an installed capacity of approximately 100 MW.

Point Lepreau nuclear refurbishment
Acres-Sargent & Lundy has been selected to oversee engineering services for New Brunswick Power's Point Lepreau refurbishment project. Our objective will be to assess overall project execution and apprise the NB Power Board of Directors of key findings, issues and risks on a quarterly basis. Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station is a 635-MW unit commissioned in 1983 and was the first CANDU-6 to begin commercial operation. Engineering is currently under way with implementation scheduled from April 2008 through October 2009. The foundation of our approach is the experience gained during the successful restart of Units 3 and 4 at the Bruce A station in Ontario.

Kpong generating station technical assessment
We have been contracted by the Volta River Authority in Ghana to carry out an assessment of the Technical Audit Report for the 160-MW Kpong generating station; prepare cost estimates to retrofit four units, including balance-of-plant equipment; and prepare tender documents for competitive bidding. As part of the counterpart engineer training program, VRA engineers will visit our office in Niagara Falls for the project’s duration. Acres carried out the original design and construction supervision for the Kpong plant in the 1970s.

TerraWinds in Québec
SkyPower Corp. has contracted us to assist with the implementation of the 201-MW Terrawinds wind farm near Rivière-du-Loup, Québec. We are providing final design, engineering and procurement management services for the balance of plant, and overall construction management for the project.

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