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OFFICIAL BLOG OF NIAGARA FALLS TOURISM |
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BIG BECKY IS BORING
By GEORGE BAILEY
2009-08-04 09:10:37
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Ontario Power generation continues to bore a tunnel 14.4 metres wide and 10.2 kilometre long from Queenston, Ontario under the City of Niagara Falls to a point above the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. To accomplish this massive feat the largest hard-rock Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) in the world, nick-named “Big Becky,” works around the clock. The project is expected to be complete in 2013. Once operational it will produce enough electricity to meet the needs of 160,000 homes annually.
How Electricity is Produced
- Water is diverted from the Niagara River above the falls at a high elevation.
- It makes a detour around the falls through underground tunnels to hydroelectric power generating stations, where the drop to the lower Niagara River is 89 metres.
- In the station it rushes through a pipe called a penstock where it strikes rotating blades of a turbine.
- The water makes the turbine spin very fast.
- These blades are attached to a shaft, which in turn is attached to the generator’s electro magnets. These spin very quickly.
- When the spinning electromagnets pass through stationary coils of wire, electricity is created.
- The electricity travels along electrical wires to transformers where the voltage is increased for long distance transmission over power lines.
For more information on the tunnel and water power go to: www.opg.com. Daily tours are offered of the Sir Adam Beck 11 Generating Station from 10am to 5pm. Check out the Niagara Parks website for more details.
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Photos by George Bailey...
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