Author(s): Randy D. Crissman

Linked Author(s):

Keywords: No Keywords

Abstract: The New York Power Authority (NYPA) and Ontario Hydro (OH) operate hydropower generating stations on the Niagara River, which forms the boundary between New York State in the USA and the Province of Ontario in Canada. As part of their ice management program for the power plants, NYPA and OH each year install a timber ice boom in Lake Erie, the source of the Niagara River, to reduce the volume of ice released into the river from the lake. Recently, NYPA and OH conducted studies of potential improvements in the design of the ice boom that niight further reduce the volume of ice released into the river. The studies concluded that replacing the timbers in the ice boom with steel pipe pontoons, without modifying the anchoring system, could substantially reduce the volume of ice released into the river. However, an economic evaluation had to be conducted before NYPA and OH would commit the funds required to implement the design improvement. This paper describes the benefit-cost evaluation that supported a decision to alter the ice boom design.

DOI:

Year: 1996