Tensa wins work in Canada

A local company which usually services the offshore oil and gas sector has won a contract to supply its technology to the Columbia Power Corporation for construction work on a dam in Canada.

Tensa Equipment will supply its Dynamic Load Reducer (DLR) to CPC for use on the Brilliant Dam hydroelectric facility at the Kootenay River Plant in British Columbia.

Perth-based Tensa’s DLR, which is generally used in offshore lifting operations to reduce crane loads, is a damped air spring which is designed to absorb the energy from a moving load and bring it to rest with minimum recoil.

The value of the contract was not disclosed.

While targeted for use on vessels in the offshore oil and gas industry to mitigate the impact of harsh sea conditions, CPC engineers found the DLR was tailored to the similar conditions found at Brilliant Dam.

“The vast volumes of water from the melting snowfields that feed the Kootenay River near Castlegar, British Columbia, often generate waves up to three metres in the spillway near the turbine outlet of the plant,” Tensa said in a statement.

“This was potentially dangerous for the CPC crane and its operator so the Canadian powerco turned to the offshore sector and its many years of dealing with dynamic loads in adverse conditions.”

Tensa said it made some modifications to one of its DLRs to suit the project, which involves reducing the loads on the crane at Brilliant Dam, particularly when operating around the turbine outlet.

Tensa owner Derick Markwell said the company’s DLRs were extremely robust, competent and reliable pieces of equipment for working in harsh environments.

“It was Tensa’s ability to provide a customised version of one of its standard products and our ability to quickly do a numerical analysis to simulate the loadings and the performance of our equipment that won us this job in its unusual surroundings,” Mr Markwell said.

Mr Markwell is also chairman of Pressure Dynamics and founder of Icon Engineering.