Adding 12 MW on Arkansas’ White River
The Hydro Division in Amherst has been awarded a detailed design contract for the White River Lock & Dams 1, 2 and 3 hydroelectric projects – consisting of three new cascading hydro plants (4 MW each) on the White River in Arkansas, USA. The three nearly identical plants will be located in abandoned locks at existing dams.

Acres will provide detailed design, FERC compliance submittals and construction liaison. Independence County owns the plants and received FERC licenses for them in 1989. After a lengthy financing and contracting period, a team of contractors was successful in obtaining an EPC-type of contract arrangement, where Acres is subconsultant to North American Hydro Contracting. VA TECH, Mobley Contractors and TransTec are the other contractors on the team.

Scott Hanna accepts major responsibilities with the
Richmond-Airport-Vancouver Rapid Transit Project (RAVCO)
In February, the RAVCO board of directors appointed Scott Hanna of Acres International as Vice President, Environmental and Regulatory Affairs. Scott had been Strategic Environmental Advisor since January 2003, and this latest move reflects RAVCO’s confidence in his management of the significant portfolio which includes environmental approvals, public and First Nations consultation and municipal affairs.

The rapid transit rail project will connect downtown Vancouver with downtown Richmond and the Vancouver International Airport. It involves construction of 19.5 km of rapid transit rail line incorporating a combination of tunnel, elevated and possibly at-grade segments, 18 stations, and an operations and maintenance center. Construction will begin in mid-2005, and the project is scheduled to be operational by November 30, 2009, in time to provide service for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

HydroVision 2004
This year's conference theme, "Best Practices. New Ideas. Opportunities." is a perfect fit with latest developments on the Acres front. HydroVision will be held from August 16-20 at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal. In addition to our week-long presence at Booth 2300, Vice President Robin Charlwood will moderate a session on Dam Safety, and Vice President John Ritchie will moderate a session on Strategic Business and Asset Management. Acres staff will also present technical papers on the following topics:

• GIS Aided Emergency Preparedness and Action Plan
  
• Small Hydro Case Study: Misema Small Hydro Development
  
• Application of Hydraulic Models for the Environmental Impact Assessment of the Proposed Wuskwatim Generating Station
• Analysis of Failure Risk Interdependencies Between Hydro Equipment Components

George Davies speaks at Power ON conference
On October 20 at the Power ON conference in Toronto, George Davies, President of Acres Management Consulting, will speak about "Economic and Environmental Issues Arising from the Deadline to Decommission Ontario's Coal-fired Generators." Power ON is a two-day event addressing the latest developments affecting the power industry and offers insight on regulatory developments and emerging trends in power supply and demand.

Click here for registration information.

St. Maarten Airport
Acres has been selected by the Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago to act as its Lender’s Engineer during the construction of an expansion to the Princess Juliana International Airport on the island of St. Maarten. Over a two-year period, Acres will validate all work in accordance with the contract documents and ensure that disbursement requests from the contractor/airport authority are appropriate for the progress of the works.

The $117 million expansion includes creation of new island property by reclamation from the sea; construction of a new terminal, aircraft apron, car park, new access roads and new utility infrastructure. The new 27,000-square-meter terminal complex will more than double passenger throughput to 2.5 million per year, and meet continuing demands of St. Maarten’s burgeoning tourist trade.

Surmont oilsands project achieves milestone
ConocoPhillips Canada hosted a reception in Calgary on June 15, 2004 to mark the goals achieved by Acres Parsons E&C and CPC over the past six months on the Surmont SAGD project. The EPCM phase of the project started on January 5, 2004 and site mobilization occurred ahead of schedule in mid-June with the start of site clearing and grading. Over 100 APEC and CPC project staff are presently working together in the APEC offices. Upon completion in 2006, the first phase of this steam assisted gravity drainage development will produce 30,000 BPD of bitumen.

Reliant Energy adds more Vista implementations
Following the successful implementation of the Vista Decision Support System in the 166-MW Raquette River hydro facilities, Reliant Energy has contracted Synexus Global to implement two subsequent phases. The new deployment will cover facilities on the Sacandaga and Hudson rivers (138 MW); and on the Beaver, Black and Oswegatchie rivers (116 MW). With these implementations, Vista will model 420 MW of hydro generation capacity.

Reliant Energy operates 70 hydroelectric plants (650 MW) on 20 rivers and streams throughout New York state. The utility employs Vista to schedule hydro production on an hourly basis in order to optimize flow efficiency and maximize revenue over the long term.