RC122 JanFeb 2026 - Magazine - Page 15
“That helped keep the camp population down to 600 or
700 people,” said Waite. “(And) we had isolation dorms
for people who tested positive plus changing practices,
masks, health clinics on site that gave vaccines and we
worked closely with regional health authorities. We were
able to get through it.”
The Site C project reached its 昀椀rst major construction
milestone in Oct. 2020 when the Peace River was diverted
through the two concrete lined tunnels. “Then we could
start construction of the co昀昀er dam,” said Waite.
Once that work was completed in the spring of 2021,
work began on building Site C’s earth昀椀ll dam. It took two
years to build the massive dam, which contains
more than 15 million cubic metres of material
and measures more than 1,000 metres long, 500
metres wide at its base and 60 metres high above
the riverbed. It also required the relocation of
11 million cubic metres of material o昀昀 the bank
above the dam.
The site’s generating station with its six 183
MW Francis turbines was also built over 11
months at this stage of the project. In addition,
an 800-metre, roller-compacted concrete buttress
to enhance seismic protection of the spillways, generating
station and the dam abutment.
Work on that structure began in 2017, with crews
placing a total of 1.68 million cubic metres of rollercompacted concrete in three large buttresses or
foundations. “Those are big volumes,” said Waite. “For
us (Site C) is a medium-sized facility, like Revelstoke. The
spillway though is the largest in our 昀氀eet.”
Another major milestone was reached in early Aug. 25,
2024, when the reservoir began 昀椀lling. “By then all the
major infrastructure was in place and ready to go,” said
Waite. “At that point there’s no turning back. You must be
con昀椀dent in the work you’ve done.”
It took 11 weeks for the reservoir, which extends from
Fort St. John to Hudson’s Hope, to reach its full water
level over its surface area of 93 square kilometres.
“As the reservoir 昀椀lled, we started passing water 昀椀rst
through the spillway and then thru the penstock for unit
one as we started commissioning,” said Waite.
The o昀케cial coming online of unit No. 1 was celebrated
with snacks, speeches and the usual hoopla at a reception
for a few hundred workers and VIPs in the Site C
powerhouse at 10 a.m. on Oct. 27.
“After 昀椀rst power the remaining units came online
as the reservoir continued to 昀椀ll,” said Waite. “With the
gates in place we could seal o昀昀 each generating unit and
let water into each of them, one at a time.”
Though his o昀케cial signing of the NCO for the No. 6
generating unit was subdued, Waite said the event was
celebrated with two larger events a few weeks later: one
for workers at the site camp; another for BC Hydro brass
and Site C project o昀케ce team members in a restaurant
near BC Hydro headquarters in downtown Vancouver.
“It was a good opportunity for the team to get
together,” said Waite, who led a team of roughly 250 BC
Hydro employees on site during the project, plus another
250 in Vancouver and an equal number of in-house
consultants.
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He said that at the peak of construction work in June
2023, Site C had 2,400 contract workers on site, 20 per
cent of them locals. The project also employed up to 540
Indigenous people.
“We went 24/7 throughout the life of the project,” said
Waite. “It was a very demanding job with long days and
often meetings and calls on nights and weekends. The
only time things slowed down was a few days around
Christmas.
“Everything was based on the pace of construction, the
challenges we faced and always keeping people safe,” he
said. “You never knew what would happen next.”
“Now that Site C is in full operation, it will serve our
customers for the next 100 years and play a critical role in
ensuring a stable and reliable electricity system.”
Waite recounted one of many incidents that arose requiring a quick and thoughtful response to avoid delays
and knock-on e昀昀ects downstream—or worse.
“I remember one day getting a call that a large concrete placement had failed the quality check,” he said. “It
turned out that 昀氀y ash instead of cement had been added
to one of the concrete pours. It was in a critical location
and had to be removed. It took several months to carefully chip out and remove before it could be replaced and
work in that area could continue.”
He said BC Hydro’s strong safety culture—one that
spells out the public utility’s expectations of contractors
and are written into its contracts—helped to avoid any fatalities or serious injuries in the 66 million hours of work
done during the construction of Site C.
“We were always looking to try and stay ahead of
things,” said Waite, who has lived in Fort St. John since
taking over as Site C project manager in 2020. “We identify issues and follow processes. We investigate and learn
as we go.”
He said he intends to remain in Fort St. John, an old
trading post on the Alaska Highway that has grown into
a town of 22,000 on the western edge of the Canadian
Prairies, until 2026 when 昀椀nishing work at Site C is expected to end.
“Now we’re back昀椀lling and putting concrete plugs in
the concrete lined tunnels and putting them to bed,” said
Waite. “We’re also paving roads and parking lots, doing
reclamation work and reforesting some areas.”
Other remaining tasks include removal of the workers’
accommodation camp, 昀椀nal commissioning of all mechanical and electrical systems, repairing and/or completing any identi昀椀ed de昀椀ciencies, and fully transitioning
the facility to BC Hydro’s operations teams.
“I’ve enjoyed living here in this really welcoming
community,” said Waite. “And I get to witness the many
positive impacts this project has had and will have on this
region for a long time to come.”
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 – RENEW CANADA 15
