Upper Lillooet River Hydroelectric Project： The Challenges of Constructing a Power Tunnel for Run-of-River Hydro Projects in Mountainous British Columbia

The Upper Lillooet River Hydroelectric Project （ULHP） is a run-of-river power generation scheme located near Pemberton, British Columbia, Canada, consisting of two separate hydroelectric facilities （HEFs） with a combined capacity of 106.7 MW. These HEFs are owned by the Upper Lillooet River Power Limited Partnership and the Boulder Creek Power Limited Partnership, and civil and tunnel construction was completed by CRT-ebc. The Upper Lillooet River HEF includes the excavation ofa 6 m wide by 5.5 m high and approximately 2500 m long tunnel along the Upper Lillooet River Valley. The project is in a moun- tainous area; severe restrictions imposed by weather conditions and the presence of sensitive wildlife species constrained the site operations in order to limit environmental impacts. The site is adjacent to the Mount Meager Volcanic Complex, the most recently active volcano in Western Canada. Tunneling conditions were very challenging, including a section through deposits associated with the most recent eruption from Mount Meager Volcanic Complex （-2360 years before the present）. This tunnel section included welded breccia and unconsolidated deposits composed of loose pumice, organics （that represent an old forest floor）, and till, before entering the underlying tonalite bedrock. The construction of this section of the tunnel required cover grouting, umbrella support, and excavation with a combination of road header, hydraulic hammer, and drilling-and-blasting method. This paper provides an overview of the project, a summary of the key design and construction schedule challenges, and a description of the successful excavation of the tunnel through deposits associated with the recent volcanic activity.

Power allocation and mode selection methods for cooperative communication in the rectangular tunnel

For the multipath fading on electromagnetic waves of wireless communication in the confined areas,the rectangular tunnel cooperative communication system was established based on the multimode channel model and the channel capacity formula derivation was obtained.On the optimal criterion of the channel capacity,the power allocation methods of both amplifying and forwarding(AF) and decoding and forwarding(DF) cooperative communication systems were proposed in the limitation of the total power to maximize the channel capacity.The mode selection methods of single input single output(SISO) and single input multiple output(SIMO) models in the rectangular tunnel,through which the higher channel capacity can be obtained,were put forward as well.The theoretical analysis and simulation comparison show that,channel capacity of the wireless communication system in the rectangular tunnel can be effectively enhanced through the cooperative technology;channel capacity of the rectangular tunnel under complicated conditions is maximized through the proposed power allocation methods,and the optimal cooperative mode of the channel capacity can be chosen according to the cooperative mode selection methods given in the paper.

Competition between multiphoton/tunnel ionization and filamentation induced by powerful femtosecond laser pulses in air

In this work we present experiments by focusing 42 femtosecond laser pulses in air using three differentfocal length lenses: f=100, 30 and 5 cm. For the longest focal length, only the filament, which is aweak plasma column,is observed. When the shorter focal length lens is used, a high density plasma isgenerated near the geometrical focus and coexists with a weak plasma channel of the filamemt. Under thetightest focusing condition, filamentation is prevented and only a strong plasma volume appears at tehgeometrical focus.