Churchill Falls
The Churchill Falls are waterfalls in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador . They are located on the Churchill River in the southwest of the Labrador region and are named after the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill . The waterfalls are namesake of the neighboring Churchill Falls hydroelectric power station .
description
The falls are in Bowdoin Canyon. In this gorge , the river first leads through rapids and overcomes a height difference of 66 meters. This is followed by the actual waterfalls (75 m) and finally more rapids (158 m). The water is directed from the Smallwood Reservoir to the underground power station. It rarely flows down the gorge when there is high water ; otherwise the river bed in this area is dry.
history
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For the indigenous people of the area, the Innu and Naskapi , the waterfalls known as Patshishetshuanau were an important landmark. They believed that the sight of them meant certain death. John MacLean, a trader for the Hudson's Bay Company , was the first European to discover the falls in 1839. He named it Hamilton Falls after the Newfoundland governor Charles Hamilton . They were largely forgotten until Albert Peter Low visited them again in 1894 on behalf of the Geological Survey of Canada to investigate the rich iron ore deposits in Labrador and northeastern Québec .
On behalf of the Québec Water Commission, Wilfred Thibaudeau carried out extensive surveys in 1915 and came up with the idea that the enormous hydropower potential could be used to generate electricity. Several decades passed before the infrastructural requirements existed. The Churchill Falls hydropower plant was built from 1967 and gradually put into operation from 1971 to 1974. With an output of 5428 MW , it is the second largest power plant in Canada.
literature
- Albert Peter Low: Report on explorations in the Labrador peninsula along the East Main, Koksoak, Hamilton, Manicuagan and portions of other rivers in 1892-93-94-95 . In: Geological Survey of Canada . Queen's Printer, Ottawa 1896 ( online [accessed March 12, 2012]).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Churchill Falls in the Canadian Encyclopedia , accessed March 12, 2012
- ^ André Bolduc: Churchill Falls, the dream ... and the reality . In: Forces . Montreal 1982, p. 40-42 .
Coordinates: 53 ° 35 ′ 42 " N , 64 ° 18 ′ 31" W.