Dam Adventure!!!

by Viviana Rodriguez (Colombia)

Every time you turn on a light or you watch TV, or you listen to the radio, or do any activity that needs energy, millions of things are happening to make those activities possible. Hundreds of people worked and are working to bring electricity to your home. To visit W.A.C Bennett Dam & G.M. Shrum Generating Station could show you how this happens plus teach you lots of historical information about the animals that millions of years ago, roamed the earth and the place where the Dam is located. During the construction of Bennett Dam people had discovered a lot of dinosaur footprints. The Peace River Canyon has been an excellent place to find hadrosaur footprints, also known as duckbilled dinosaur, as well as the world’s earliest bird footprints. These footprints tell to the experts more about the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous creature habits and how they look. To know all of this information becomes really important for our civilization. Actually, it is very helpful for the climate and environmental investigations that our society has to figure out these days.

In the 1960’s, the power of the Peace River started to be used to generate electricity for all B.C; in fact, the powerhouse at the W.A.C Bennett Dam was the largest Dam in the world when it went into operation in 1968. This huge construction generates energy from 10 generators. We learned from Physics at school that “energy can be neither created nor destroyed, just transformed.” These turbine generators are responsible for making this possible and transforming the potential energy from the water of Williston Lake reservoir into electric energy. But, it doesn’t stop there. The switchgear station (where the electricity from the powerhouse directs the power into the transmission system of B.C.), the powerhouse and the control room, are also part of this incredible system.

Finally there is also another place you can check out before your “Dam Adventure” is over. Do you know where Peace River starts? Well, after the water from the Dam is used it goes to the Peace Canyon (reservoir) then to another Dam where this water becomes the Peace River. The Peace River Canyon Dam, as it is known, will also bring you to a lovely town named Hudson’s Hope, which probably isn’t that big in area or population, but is huge in kindness from its inhabitants. You will meet such a nice people who could tell you histories about the Dam, the Peace River, and in one word about this useful project.