Stave Falls Dam, Hydroelectric power station and national historic site in Mission, Canada
Stave Falls Dam is a hydroelectric power station and national historic site located along the Stave River in Mission, featuring three dams, a powerhouse, and a switchyard. The facility operates two Kaplan turbines with an installed capacity of 90 megawatts to supply electricity to the Lower Mainland region.
The Western Canada Power Company began building the dam in 1909 after buying Stave Lake Electric and Power, which had studied the falls since 1895. The first generator went online in December 1911 and the second in January 1912. British Columbia Electric Railway bought the company in 1921 and added a fifth generator in 1925.
The decommissioned powerhouse now houses the Stave Falls Visitor Centre, displaying five horizontal double-Francis turbine-generators and three exciters. Exhibits cover dam construction, hydroelectric generation, renewable and non-renewable resources, human and natural heritage, and conservation.
The site is accessible by road from Mission and offers viewpoints where you can see the dam structure and the surrounding landscape. It is good to wear comfortable shoes and be prepared for changing weather, as conditions can shift quickly in this area.
The structure combines concrete gravity and rock-fill construction methods, an engineering approach that was innovative for its time. This design allowed engineers to work with the landscape while maximizing the water's power generation potential.
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