PSE Snoqualmie Falls – Pelton Wheel Case Rehabilitation

Oct 13, 2016 | by Lisa Schaefer

Pelton Wheel Case Rehabilitation

30 miles from the LPC Kent office, is PSE’s Snoqualmie Falls Hydroelectric Project. Built in 1899, it is one of the oldest hydro power plants in the United States and the world’s first completely underground power plant. LPC had the pleasure of being a part of a four year redevelopment process at the facility, where we worked to rehabilitate four of the Pelton Wheel Cases.

The Pelton Wheel was invented in the 1870’s, and is a water turbine that extracts energy from the impulse of moving water, as opposed to water’s dead weight (like the traditional overshot water wheel). More information on Pelton Wheel Turbines can be found here.

The job consisted of:

• fully sealing 8 interior walls, including 2 doors of the Pelton Wheel Case
• 2400 square feet of coated area in 8 cases
• surface prep of concrete, steel, and cast iron
• holding primer application to prepared surfaces
• surfacer applied to concrete
• non structural patch applied to steel
• stripe coats applied at locations where dissimilar substrates join along with embedding of geotextile fabric
• an application of plural component thick film coating
• an extended application and material warranty

Working in a confined area, approximately 220’ below the surface, we utilized the Carboline coating system after removing rust, mill scale, and loose debris via hand tools and blasting.

Our team worked hand in hand with PSE crew and successfully managed a close, tight schedule to get the job done efficiently.

PSE was particularly impressed with Eddie Henningson and Dan Santos who received praise for “expertise, attention to detail, and perfection” and “availability and response time”, respectively. We were also proud that our stellar customer service, quality workmanship, and excellent working relationship with PSE’s crews were recognized by their staff and management.

More information about the Snoqualmie Falls Hydroelectric Project can be found here.