Groundbreaking Hydro Prize
In April 2021, two teams were selected as winners to share a cash pool of $75,000.
Like roots to a tree, geotechnical foundations provide structural support to a hydropower facility, and must be developed to ensure stability, safety, and performance for decades. While foundations are central to dam safety, challenges in their design and construction can lead to major project delays and cost overruns, potentially jeopardizing a project’s success.
Through the Groundbreaking Hydro Prize, WPTO solicited solutions to address key challenges faced in one or more of the three foundation development phases:
- Geotechnical Site Assessment: Activities performed to obtain information needed to design and construct a hydropower foundation system
- Foundation Design: Process of using information from the site assessment to perform analyses and develop a cost-effective foundation system that meets the project design criteria
- Foundation Construction: Activities performed by the contractor, from mobilization through project commissioning, to fully develop the foundation system
Targeting the most promising opportunities for future hydropower growth, the prize sought solutions based on:
- Low head (less than 30 feet)
- New stream-reach development (NSD): Sites defined as stream segments without hydroelectric facilities or other hydraulic structures
- Applicability to soil foundations.
Please note that superstructures, including dams, were excluded from the prize scope.
Goals of the Prize
Groundbreaking Hydro was designed to:
- Reduce construction costs
- Shorten overall installation times
- Minimize ground excavation Avoid disturbances in river connectivity during installation, operation, and maintenance (e.g., not use cofferdams when possible)
- Leverage advanced materials and techniques
- Prevent foundation treatment failures
Innovators were encouraged to derive their solutions from within the hydropower industry or leverage lessons learned from a diverse set of fields, from maritime construction to advanced manufacturing, offshore wind, transportation, residential and commercial building industries, and beyond to develop transformative methods or technologies that can be applied to hydropower projects.
Congratulations to Our Winners!
Two teams were chosen as winners of the Groundbreaking Hydro Prize and will share a cash prize pool of $75,000.