Barnard Construction Co., Inc.

Owner:

American Municipal Power, Inc.

Scope Of Work

Since 2006, American Municipal Power, Inc. (AMP) and its 79 local utility participating member communities have been working to broaden their access to clean, renewable energy. One action AMP has pursued to reach this goal is the construction of the Smithland Hydroelectric Project, one of its four run-of-the-river projects under construction at present. A team broke ground on Smithland in 2010 and Barnard took the helm as Construction Manager of the project between Feb. 2015 and Feb. 2016.

With construction complete, AMP gained a new 72 MW hydroelectric powerhouse built into a watertight structure on the east side of the Ohio River at the site of the Smithland Dam and Locks operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Initially working within a temporary earthen cofferdam, Barnard’s scope  included Construction Management of second-stage concrete placement required to install all finish systems of emergency flood gates, trash racks, bulkhead gates, and housings for the three horizontal bulb turbine. Our first major milestone was completion of the structure and installation of the gates and necessary appurtenances to make the power plant watertight as soon as possible. Within the watertight structure, we installed and constructed the three 24 MW horizontal bulb turbines and Voith Balance of Plant piping. Earthwork, the remaining Balance of Plant piping, all powerhouse finishes, and the electrical gear and control systems that generate power and operate the powerhouse were installed by others. The structure has been designed to be watertight in flood conditions.