Daily Archive for July 8th, 2005

From Honeymoon City to Hydro City

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has a special section in the archives section of their web site Hydroelectricity: The Power of Water with news clips from over the years. There is a 3 minute clip from Aug. 25, 1957 where they talk about Niagara Falls.

The plunging waters, thundering roar and spraying mist of Niagara Falls spell more than just romance. Since 1896 the falls have also provided hydroelectric power to residents on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. With a new 1957 agreement between Ontario and the state of New York, the falls will become the single biggest power supplier in the world. And, as the CBC’s Bruce Marsh reports, the view of the falls will remain as breathtaking as ever.

You should check it out. The black & white clip shows all the Falls, and explains a bit about how the hydro systems worked back then.

Preparing for the big skywalk

As the Niagara Falls Review reported a few days ago, Jay Cochrane has postponed the big skywalk from the Fallsview Casino to the Skylon Tower a couple of times. As best we can see, he’s been adjusting the support wires quite a bit. At one point a week or so ago, there were wires hanging down over the trees ending up in Queen Victoria Park. Then the wires were gone a few days later. Well, they’re back and they look like they will be staying there.

Wires in Queen Victoria Park
Fenced in concrete support/anchors in Queen Victoria ParkConcrete supports in Queen Victoria Park
Close-up of the support setup.
The wire is wrapped around the concrete blocks and then cinched tight.

Size of a support wire
Size of the support wire in relation to Chris’ hand