A Brief Historical Review of the Defunct La Colle Falls Hydropower Project Near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan: Fid-Bau Portal

A Brief Historical Review of the Defunct La Colle Falls Hydropower Project Near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan

Kells, Jim / Paul, Van Pul

In the era pre-1950, electrical energy in Saskatchewan was produced locally by municipalities that could afford to install electrical energy generation systems. In 1906, the City of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan gave consideration to developing a hydropower project on the North Saskatchewan River at a site located some 45 km downstream from the City. The site is known as La Colle Falls. The hope at the time was to encourage industry to develop in the City. The La Colle Falls project was conceived as a run-of-river hydropower project to be comprised of a low-height Ambursen style dam, a hydropower plant located a short distance downstream on a power canal, and a navigation lock to permit the passage of sternwheeler vessels on the river. Initial design work on the project started in 1909, with site investigations beginning in 1911. Construction commenced in 1912, but shortly thereafter the City ran into issues with financing for the project and work was stopped in August 1913. Although there were some attempts to get it going again the following year, the breakout of World War I essentially prevented any further progress. By this time, the City was almost bankrupt, but ultimately it was able to pay off the accumulated debt over the following 50 years. Today, the partially-completed works stand as a reminder of the often tenuous nature of engineering projects. In this paper, an overview is provided of the La Colle Falls project and of some of the key players involved with getting the project underway. Included are comments on the technical aspects of the project, such as the project location and style of dam, brief discussion of the several critical decisions that impacted the project’s success, and a brief summary of the project as it remains today.