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Vulcan Street Plant
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Power GenerationEra: 1880-1889DateCreated: 1882Fox RiverAppletonState: WIZip: 54911Country: USAWebsite: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-we-are/engineering-history/landmarks/29-vulcan-street-power-plant, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/c0b5b641-34df-46a5-aa22-c847b42084b4/29-Vulcan-Street-Power-Plant.aspxCreator: Rogers, H.J. , Edison, Thomas

The plant began operation only twenty-six days after Thomas Edison's first steam plant began operating on Pearl Street in New York (NL 46). On September 30, 1882, an Edison "K" type dynamo produced electricity from a water-powered turbine to light three buildings (two paper mills and the H.J. Rogers home), at rate of about 12 1/2 kilowatts. It is the first Edison hydroelectric central station to serve a system of private and commercial customers in North America. The story of its development provides keen insight into the nation's first experiences with the electric light.

YearAdded:
1977
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/bigcityal (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Vulcan Street PlantEra_date_from: 1882
Shippingport Nuclear Power Station
Society: ASMEMain Category: Electric, MechanicalSub Category: NuclearEra: 1950-1959DateCreated: 1958Duquesne Light Company
ShippingportState: PAZip: 15050Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/electric-power-production-nuclear/-47-shippingport-nuclear-power-station-%281958%29, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/c64a220f-030c-4384-8336-7d9857248322/47-Shippingport-Nuclear-Power-Station.aspxCreator: Duquesne Light Company

The first commercial central electric-generating station in the United States to use nuclear energy was the Shippingport Atomic Power Station of the Department of Energy and the Duquesne Light Company. In a dramatic high-tech display, ground was broken in 1954 during dedication ceremonies by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who also opened it on May 26, 1958, as part of his "Atoms for Peace" program. Shippingport is located on the Ohio River about 25 miles from Pittsburgh.

YearAdded:
1980
Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service)Image Caption: Shippingport Nuclear Power StationEra_date_from: 1958
Sault Ste. Marie Hydroelectric Complex
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Power GenerationEra: 1900-1909DateCreated: 1902Salmon Run WaySault Ste. MarieState: MIZip: 49783Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/project/sault-ste--marie-hydroelectric-power-complex/Creator: Modjeski, Ralph , Noble, Alfred

Located at the northern tip of Michigan where Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Huron join together, the Sault Ste. Marie Hydroelectric Power Complex was built to harness the hydroelectric potential of the  20-foot falls at the headwaters of the St. Marys (sic) River, the sole outlet of Lake Superior. A century after its construction, the  plant remains the largest low-head hydroelectric facility in the United States. Today, the Sault Ste. Marie plant supplies electricity to area residents, especially those in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

YearAdded:
1983
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Madison Berndt (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Sault Ste. Marie Hydroelectric ComplexEra_date_from: 1902
Society: IEEEMain Category: ElectricalSub Category: Power, Energy & Industry ApplicationEra: 1890-1899DateCreated: 18951501 Buffalo AvenueNiagara FallsState: NYZip: 14303Country: USAWebsite: http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:Adams_Hydroelectric_Generating_Plant,_1895Creator: McKim Mead & White
When the Adams Plant went into operation on August 26, 1895, it represented a key victory for alternating-current systems over direct-current. The clear advantage of high voltage AC for long distance power transmission and the unprecedented size of the plant (it reached its full capacity of ten 5,000-HP generators in May 1900) influenced the future of the electrical industry worldwide. In August 1895 the Adams No. 1 generating station of the Niagara Falls Power Company first supplied electric power to local industries in Niagara Falls, New York.
YearAdded:
1990
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Lvklock (CC BY-SA 3.0)Image Caption: Adams Hydroelectric Generating PlantEra_date_from: 1895
Grand Coulee Dam
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: DamsEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 1941Columbia RiverGrand CouleeState: WAZip: 99133Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Grand-Coulee-Dam/Creator: Bureau of Reclamation

The massive Grand Coulee Dam, on the Columbia River, is the largest concrete structure in the U.S., the largest hydroelectric facility in the U.S., and the sixth-largest hydroelectric facility in the world. It provides irrigation for up to 1.1 million acres of agricultural lands and the hydroelectric complex maintains a generating capacity of 6.8 million kilowatts. It also serves as the primary flood control for the Columbia River basin (with a capacity of 5.18 million acre-feet of water) and provides recreational opportunities on the 150-mile-long Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake.

YearAdded:
1997
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr; //lucylu (CC BY-ND 2.0)Image Caption: Grand Coulee DamEra_date_from: 1941
Ontario Power Generation
Society: IEEEMain Category: ElectricalSub Category: Power, Energy & Industry ApplicationEra: 1890-1899DateCreated: 1898Twelve Mile CreekNiagaraState: OntarioCountry: CanadaWebsite: http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:Decew_Falls_Hydro-Electric_Plant,_1898Creator: Patterson, John, Cataract Power Company

The Decew Falls Hydro-Electric Development was a pioneering project in the generation and transmission of electrical energy at higher voltages and at greater distances in Canada. On 25 August 1898 this station transmitted power at 22,500 Volts, 66 2/3 Hz, two-phase, a distance of 56 km to Hamilton, Ontario. Using the higher voltage permitted efficient transmission over that distance. The Cataract Power Company of Hamilton Limited (the predecessor to the Dominion Power and Transmission Company) was organized in 1896.

YearAdded:
2004
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/ontariopowergeneration (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Decew Falls Hydro-Electric PlantEra_date_from: 1898
Denison Dam
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: DamsEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 1943Red RiverDenisonState: TXZip: 75020Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Denison-Dam/Creator: Clay, Lucius

The largest rolled-earth fill dam in the world at the time of its completion, Denison Dam eventually served as a prototype for dam construction in future U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects throughout the arid plains of the American Southwest. Procedures and equipment developed during its construction are now commonplace in the sampling and testing of soils.

YearAdded:
1993
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Robert Nunnally (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Denison DamEra_date_from: 1943
Society: ASMEMain Category: Mechanical, ElectricSub Category: SteamEra: 1910-1919DateCreated: 1918108 E Wells StreetMilwaukeeState: WIZip: 53202Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/electric-power-production-steam/-42-east-wells-%28onieda%29-street-power-plant-%281918%29, http://sections.asme.org/milwaukee/history/4-pulverizedcoal.htmlCreator: Esser, Herman, Anderson, John
Formerly known as the Oneida Street Power Plant, this plant served from 1918 to 1920 as the pilot plant in the United States for the development and use of finely pulverized coal firing in the boilers of steam-electric power plants. The results of the Oneida experiences were major changes in boiler design and lower costs of power generation. Following the early years of central station electric development, experiments at Onieda Street resolved persisting inefficiencies at a time when coal was increasingly expensive and of poorer quality.
YearAdded:
1980
Image Credit: Image source:
Wisconsin Historical Society
Image Caption: East Wells Onieda Street Power PlantEra_date_from: 1918
Hiwassee Dam Unit 2 Reversible Pump-Turbine 1
Society: ASMEMain Category: Electric, MechanicalSub Category: WaterEra: 1950-1959DateCreated: 1956MurphyState: NCZip: 28906Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/electric-power-production-water/-67-hiwassee-dam-unit-2-reversible-pump-turbine-%281, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/4a637087-db16-4eb1-8240-e2a1a40e9d8c/67-Hiwassee-Dam.aspxCreator: Allis-Chalmers Company

The integration of pump and turbine was the first of many to be installed in power-plant systems in the United States. It was the largest and most powerful in the world. As a "pump storage" unit in the Tennessee Valley Authority's system, it effected significant economies in the generation of electrical energy. The unit was designed by engineers of the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Allis-Chalmers Company. It was built by Allis-Chalmers.

YearAdded:
1981
Image Credit: Public Domain (Tennessee Valley Authority)Image Caption: Hiwassee Dam Unit 2 Reversible Pump-Turbine 1Era_date_from: 1956
Rocky River Pumped-storage Hydroelectric Plant
Society: ASMEMain Category: Electric, MechanicalSub Category: WaterEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1929Rocky River StationHartfordState: CTZip: 06101Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/electric-power-production-water/-56-rocky-river-pumped-storage-hydroelectric-plant, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/1b393410-996b-4172-b5b7-628efc383e7d/56-Rocky-River-Hydroelectric-Station.aspxCreator: Connecticut Light & Power Company

The Connecticut Light & Power Company pioneered the use of pumped storage in the United States at this hydroelectric station. First operated in 1929, the Rocky River Plant had two reversible pumps that somewhat resemble large hydroelectric turbines. This permitted significant improvements in the system efficiency of the company's network of hydroelectric and thermal-electric power generating plants. Water is pumped uphill through a penstock and stored in Lake Candlewood.

YearAdded:
1980
Image Credit: Courtesy ASMEImage Caption: Rocky River Pumped-storage Hydroelectric PlantEra_date_from: 1929
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Innovations

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Idols Station, Fries Manufacturing & Power Company

This run-of-the-river plant is a typical example of late nineteenth-century small-scale (750 kilowatt) low-head hydroelectric power technology. The Fries Manufacturing and Power Company began operating the Idol's Station on April 18, 1898, making it the first commercial hydroelectric plant in…

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Rocky River Pumped-storage Hydroelectric Plant

The Connecticut Light & Power Company pioneered the use of pumped storage in the United States at this hydroelectric station. First operated in 1929, the Rocky River Plant had two reversible pumps that somewhat resemble large hydroelectric turbines. This permitted significant improvements in…

Read More
Hiwassee Dam Unit 2 Reversible Pump-Turbine 1

The integration of pump and turbine was the first of many to be installed in power-plant systems in the United States. It was the largest and most powerful in the world. As a "pump storage" unit in the Tennessee Valley Authority's system, it effected significant economies in the generation of…

Read More
Formerly known as the Oneida Street Power Plant, this plant served from 1918 to 1920 as the pilot plant in the United States for the development and use of finely pulverized coal firing in the boilers of steam-electric power plants. The results of the Oneida experiences were major changes in boiler… Read More
Denison Dam

The largest rolled-earth fill dam in the world at the time of its completion, Denison Dam eventually served as a prototype for dam construction in future U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects throughout the arid plains of the American Southwest. Procedures and equipment developed during…

Read More
Ontario Power Generation

The Decew Falls Hydro-Electric Development was a pioneering project in the generation and transmission of electrical energy at higher voltages and at greater distances in Canada. On 25 August 1898 this station transmitted power at 22,500 Volts, 66 2/3 Hz, two-phase, a distance of 56 km to…

Read More
Grand Coulee Dam

The massive Grand Coulee Dam, on the Columbia River, is the largest concrete structure in the U.S., the largest hydroelectric facility in the U.S., and the sixth-largest hydroelectric facility in the world. It provides irrigation for up to 1.1 million acres of agricultural lands and the…

Read More
When the Adams Plant went into operation on August 26, 1895, it represented a key victory for alternating-current systems over direct-current. The clear advantage of high voltage AC for long distance power transmission and the unprecedented size of the plant (it reached its full capacity of ten 5,… Read More
Sault Ste. Marie Hydroelectric Complex

Located at the northern tip of Michigan where Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Huron join together, the Sault Ste. Marie Hydroelectric Power Complex was built to harness the hydroelectric potential of the  20-foot falls at the headwaters of the St. Marys (sic) River, the sole outlet of…

Read More
Shippingport Nuclear Power Station

The first commercial central electric-generating station in the United States to use nuclear energy was the Shippingport Atomic Power Station of the Department of Energy and the Duquesne Light Company. In a dramatic high-tech display, ground was broken in 1954 during dedication ceremonies by…

Read More
Vulcan Street Plant

The plant began operation only twenty-six days after Thomas Edison's first steam plant began operating on Pearl Street in New York (NL 46). On September 30, 1882, an Edison "K" type dynamo produced electricity from a water-powered turbine to light three buildings (two paper mills and the H.J.…

Read More

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