PROJECT OF THE MONTH | OCTOBER 2022


R Niagara’s 630t gantry crane. All photos courtesy of NYPA


(dubbed “Big Red’ by plant staff) rolls along rail tracks at the project’s main generating facility, with lifting rotors and other major components for maintenance and repairs. It is original to the plant and is nearing the end of its life. The new crane will play an integral role in NGN and will be rated to carry loads 50 tons greater than its predecessor. As Paul Parthemore, project engineer,


NYPA explains: “The existing 630 ton crane at the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant is original to the plant and over the years there has been unplanned maintenance outages on the crane, leading to deferred maintenance on all our generating units at the plant. The Board of Trustees at our July meeting approved the replacement of our gantry crane at Niagara. This is great for us, as we are going to get a brand new


crane, increase capacity, a bird deterrent system, CCTV and its just going to be overall, a more reliable crane for the operations at Niagara and this will support the hydro pillar of our vision 2030.” The NGN program improvements include replacing aging equipment with the latest machinery, incorporating digital technologies which will optimize the hydroelectric project’s performance. In addition to the crane replacement, which enables the disassembly and reassembly of the generating units, Next Generation Niagara encompasses three other projects: design and implementation of an inspection platform to carry out inspections of the Robert Moses Plant’s penstocks - the 485 foot conduits are 26 feet in diameter along the face of the project that carry


R ‘Big Red’


water from the forebay to the turbine generators; upgrading and digitizing control systems and building a new back-up control room and; overhaul and/or replacement of mechanical components that have reached the end of their operating life, for which the new crane will play an integral role. Following the collapse of Niagara


Mohawk’s Schoellkopf Power Station in 1956 the Federal Power Commission issued a license in 1957 to the New York Power Authority to redevelop Niagara Falls’ hydroelectric power, producing ts first power in 1961. After 60 years of operation and getting a new 50-year federal operating license in 2007, the Niagara Power Project remains the crown jewel of New York’s power infrastructure and growing clean energy economy. ●


R The lifting rotors. Q A worker watches the crane iin action.


www.hoistmagazine.com | October 2022 | 11


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