First phase of Kitimat smelter construction nears completion on newly filled area. Some 3.8 million cubic yards of fill was brought to the site. Plant will produce 90,000 tons of aluminum a year
Canadian Aluminum The Hard W a y Alcan completes first stage of its hydroelectric and aluminum smelter project at cost of $ 2 7 5 million to date This early excavation picture of the Kemano powerhouse shows miners removing part of the 258,000 cubic yards of rock. Rings were blasted down from the 80-foot wide parabolic arch roof; chamber is 712 by 80 by 134 feet CPKEAD OUT OVER an area of unsettled
^ territory 160 miles in width and 60 miles in depth, Alcan's vast new project will eventually have a hydroelectric capacity of 2,240,000 h p . , the largest ever undertaken by private enterprise. This block of power will supply the largest aluminum smelter in t h e world having an annual capacity of 550,000 tons. The first stage of the project is now in operation. The first aluminum ingot was poured Aug. 3 at Kitimat, B. C. That portion in operation uses hydroelectric capacity of 470,000 h p . and will produce 91,500 tons of aluminum annually. Hydroelectric works, transmission lines, and smelter are capable of rapid fivefold expansion with installation of additional generators and smelter potlines. Construction Takes Three Years. It has been three years since plans for the Kitimat plant were revealed by Alcan. 3112
During that time (by October 1 9 5 2 ) , more than 6 million tons of rock and clay were moved into the canyon of the Nechako River to form the Kenney Dam, third largest earth-filled d a m in the world. This dam backs u p t h e waters in a lake and river reservoir system 150 miles in length. One of the most difficult phases of the job was the 10-mile tunnel, 25 feet in diameter, which leads the impounded water (3500 cubic feet per second) through the mountains to the underground powerhouse. About a quarter of the tunnel length has an 18-inch concrete lining and just over another quarter has a gunite coating. Penstocks Drop 2 6 0 0 Feet. T h e main tunnel branches out into two penstocks inclining down to the powerhouse at an angle of 48°. Through these penstocks water drops 2600 feet, creating a head that is 16 times greater CHEMICAL
A 10-mile tunnel, shown under construction leads 3500 cubic feet of water per second through its 25-foot diameter. Fenstock in background drops 2600 feet
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One of three generator rotors is lowered into position in the underground powerhouse. Generators put out 140,000 hp.
than Niagara Falls. A t t h e powerhouse the penstocks divide into four five-foot diameter branches, go through a valve chamber, and feed t h e turbines. Pressure in t h e penstocks reaches 1236 pounds p e r square inch. In the Kemano powerhouse, a vast cavern a quarter mile inside t h e m o u n tain, three 140,000 h p . turbines a n d generators were installed this spring. On July 15 the turbines started to turn over, driven by t h e waters falling through t h e penstocks from t h e tunnel above. For the past t h r e e weeks power
has flowed t h r o u g h t h e 50-mile aluminum transmission line which crosses a 5000 foot mountain pass b e t w e e n Kemano and Kitimat t o bake the pots in the atuminum smelter. T h e generating station is in a chamber 712 feet i n length, 81 feet in w i d t h and 134 feet high, excavated from the solid rode. It has b e e n designed to accommodate a total of eight vertical t y p e turbines with a capacity of 1,120,000 hp. as a second stage of expansion. A third stage would involve extending the cavexn by 400 feet to accommodate
Stringing of world's largest aluminum cable (2.295 inches in diameter) proceeds along mountain section of 48 mile transmission line from Kemano to Kitimat. Towers for the> mountainous areas were delivered in 1500-pound sections by helicopters
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an identical installation a n d double the power capacity. N e w Seaport a t Kitimat. T h e newly built port at Kitimat, adjacent to the smelter, has been steadily receiving the various materials such as petroleum coke, pitch, cryolite, and alumina, consumed at t h e smelter. T h e alumina comes via Alcan ships from Jamaica w h e r e another Aluminium Ltd. subsidiary has bauxite properties and extracts the alumina. About $30 million has been invested there mainly to support the Kitimat smelter. At Kitimat where only a remote Indian tribe peopled the area until three years ago, a modern t o w n is being built. About 1000 employees will operate the smelter in its initial stages; immediate plans for the town envisage a population of 6000. Townsite plans call for a new city of 50,000 when demand for aluminum justifies it.
Finishing touches are put on the first house completed at Kitimat; 600 will be finished by next spring. The entire townsite is planned to make it one of Canada's show cities. A worker may pay $700 down and $60 a month for these $14,000 houses
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