The French Modular Impoundment Award Number: DE-FOA-0007244 CX(s) Applied: A9, B3.6 Wind and Water Power Technologies Office Date: 12/03/2015 Location(s): MA Office(s): Golden Field Office
Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance
December 3, 2015
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The French Modular Impoundment
Award Number: DE-FOA-0007244
CX(s) Applied: A9, B3.6
Wind and Water Power Technologies Office
Date: 12/03/2015
Location(s): MA
Office(s): Golden Field Office
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to provide federal funding to French Development Enterprises, LLC to design, manufacture and test a prototype, small scale, precast modular dam as well as design a full-scale dam to compare the resulting engineering and cost estimates with traditional dam construction methods.
Proposed project activities would include the design, fabrication and laboratory testing of precast modular dam technology for construction and retrofit of small- and medium-head hydropower projects. Design and fabrication activities would take place at the Oldcastle Precast facility in Rehoboth, MA and Avon, CT. Once manufactured, the small scale dam segments would be delivered to Alden Labs in Holden, MA. They would be placed in an existing, indoor, 100 foot by 10 foot by 20 foot test tank at the Alden Labs facility. The prototype dam would be 26 feet in length with six modules and supporting buttresses and abutment walls. The prototype would be placed in, and seal off half of, the tank, and water would be added to test seepage between adjoining modules. Water used for tank testing would be re-circulated in a closed loop. The assembly and disassembly of the dam would be closely reviewed and monitored to evaluate ability and ease of installation and removal. Testing would involve qualitative investigations with dye to find sources of any leakage in the dam. Remedies for sources of leakage would be evaluated, including potential sealing material or new bolting configurations.