Lock 7 Hydro Partners LLS has filed an application with the Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI) to certify the Mother Ann Lee Hydroelectric station in Kentucky, US, as low impact.

The station is located at Lock & Dam 7 on the Kentucky river. It forms part of a system of lock and dams on the Kentucky river between Beattyville in eastern Kentucky to Carrollton on the Ohio river.

The Kentucky river navigation system, locks and dams, is one of the oldest still operating in the US. Kentucky river locks and dams 1 through 5 go back to 1836-1842 and were constructed by the state under the Chief Engineer, Sylvester Welch. Lock No. 7 at river mile 117, is located in High Bridge at the end of Kentucky route 29.

In 1876 High Bridge was the location of the highest railway bridge in the world, and the first railroad cantilever bridge. Lock No. 7 is half a mile (0.80km) below the bridge, past a pair of stone portals. Across the dam is the Mother Ann Lee Hydroelectric Station (FERC No. 539).

Lock 7 is a timber-crib dam with a stone lock chamber built in 1896-97 by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for barge navigation. The original licence for the Lock 7 project was issued to the Kentucky Hydro Electric Company on 19 August 1926 and the project was constructed in 1927-28. The licence was transferred to Kentucky Utilities in December 1928. The current license, issued in 1992, was transferred from Kentucky Utilities to Lock 7 Hydro Partners on 23 November 2005. The existing project consists of:

* A concrete substructure, about 35m long, with an 11m long solid concrete section and a 24m long hollow dam spillway, containing trash racks, six intake gates, three turbines, and discharge facilities.

* A 28m long, 7.9m wide and 5m high superstructure/power house located above the spillway, supported by hollow concrete piers, with three 680kW generating units having a total installed capacity of 2040kW.

* A forebay about 36.6m long and 30.5m wide.

* A substation located on the west bank.

* A foot bridge, about 25.9m long, connecting the substation with the power house.

* A 34.5kV, 1384m long transmission line, with a right-of-way ranging from 15.2m to 61m wide (about half of this line is owned by the applicant, the remainder is leased from Kentucky Utilities).

* Appurtenant facilities.

A 60 day public comment period for the Mother Ann Lee hydroelectric station runs to 11 December 2006. For further information, please visit the LIHI website by clicking on the link below.




External weblinks


Low Impact Hydropower Institute