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Above: Construction progresses on the St. Joseph River on 5 November 2021. Photo by Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame


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Work on the project began in 2019 but was slowed by the Covid-19 pandemic and other planning and logistical hurdles. Planning and designing the facility was a complex


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IWP&DC would like to thank the University of Notre Dame for providing all the information and photos for this article. www.nd.ed


Below: Turbines installed at the Notre Dame hydro project pictured on 20 December 2021. Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame


task. The site is small and wedged between the river and the east race, which is now a recreational waterway. Additionally, as the original industrial site at South Bend, much debris and rubble were buried on site here and encountered during construction. The project team included KFI Engineers, Lawson Fisher Associates, R&R Excavating, Rieth Riley Construction, Navarre Services and Ziolkowski Construction. These design professionals, contractors, and suppliers worked collaboratively, as well as with nearby property owners, whose cooperation was necessary to not only access the site but run the transmission line north to campus. Considerable time and effort were also spent working with a number of stakeholders and regulators at the local, state and federal levels such as FERC, Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, US Fish and Wildlife, and the US Army Corps of Engineers. Construction involved 6700 cubic yards of


poured and pre-cast concrete, including a series of 25,000-pound box culverts measuring 16ft wide by 14ft tall. The foundation alone required six feet of concrete, including a two-foot mud slab, to prevent water and moisture from undermining the foundation. The facility contains 1.1 million pounds of steel. Construction crews drove sheeting around the


entire work area including in the river at the intake and outlet of the planned facility. Dewatering followed to allow for excavations that ranged from 20 to over 40ft below grade level to accommodate the massive


14 | November 2022 | www.waterpowermagazine.com


tunnels needed to divert water from the river to the powerhouse, as well as the construction of a dam to support the new turbines, unearthing bricks and other debris in the process. Apart from a small control building, the project is fully submerged allowing for the city to restore its park over the project. The scheme is capable of generating 2.5MW or enough to power between 1750-2500 homes. Power is transmitted back to the university campus approximately two miles north via an underground transmission line. Early on in the process, Paul Kempf, Assistant Vice


President for Utilities And Maintenance at Notre Dame, travelled with a group of colleagues to meet with Voith Hydro in Austria. The company’s innovative StreamDiver design was determined to be best suited for the project.


Based on the characteristics of the site, including the flow of the river and height of the dam, the consultant team of KFI Engineers and Lawson-Fisher Associates designed a ten-turbine system, each with a 250kW generator and a propeller type runner, stacked two- high across five shafts. Removable oil-free bearings allow for ease of maintenance using a launch and recovery system. From a purely financial perspective, the university


expects a 30-year return on the project. It also hopes to use the facility for education and research. Engineering students, along with a number of Montessori and home school students, have already toured the site during construction. There is an opportunity for biology students to partner with the Department of Natural Resources on a fish study, plus an opportunity for educational signage tracing the history of the site from the 1840s to the current facility and its role as source of clean, renewable energy for Notre Dame. ●


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