Seismic Instrumentation at Ruskin Dam, British Columbia, Canada

Ruskin Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the State River in Ruskin, British Columbia, Canada. It was completed in 1930 for the primary purpose of hydroelectric power generation.

In 2017, Kinemetrics supplied and installed seismic instrumentation for this dam, including Obsidian recorders, world-standard Episensor ES-T’s and a SBEPI (Shallow Borehole Episensor). There were four Obsidian 4-ch recorders, which were connected to the ES-T. There was also an Obsidian 8-ch recorder, which had one ES-T and one SBEPI.

They were installed in five different locations, which included the dam gallery, left abutment, right abutment and two control rooms.

Upon installation, the dam staff were fully trained by Kinemetrics to successfully operate and maintain the system.