Fire Protection at the Grand Coulee Hydro Project

by Eric Corbin, US Bureau of Reclamation, USA,
John W. Sale, US Bureau of Reclamation, USA,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Water Power '87

Abstract:

In the fall of 1980 a rupture of one of the Project's 525kV transmission cables occurred and created a fire. Power from three Third Powerplant 700MW units was interrupted, complete cable replacement was required, the underground concrete-lined tunnel was heavily damaged in the fire area, and the cable oil storage tanks in the tunnel were lost. The results of this fire and others less in severity prompted a thorough review of the Project's fire protection. In January 1982, a contract was awarded to Gage-Babcock and Associates, Inc. , to perform a fire protection engineering survey of the Project. The survey and prepared report analyzed and described the existing conditions, identified deficiencies, made recommendations, and provided cost estimates for correction of the deficiencies. The paper includes descriptions of the fire systems analysis, water supply systems, alarm and detection systems, ventilation systems, emergency systems, and preliminary design aspects of the Project's fire protection plan as it relates to the powerplants.

Subject Headings: Cables | Fires | System analysis | Project management | Hydro power | Water supply systems | Storage tanks

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