The McElroy MegaMc 1600 packs the power to handle heavy-wall pipe, and can be tented to fuse in nearly any environment.

• First and foremost, the water conservancy will boost fish populations. One species targeted by the project is the steelhead trout, listed as “threatened” by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. A boost in the water flow could equate to a boost in population of the fish that could lead to its eventual removal from the protected list.
• Secondly, the water will be used to generate green energy through two Francis turbines at the end of the pipelines. The 1.5 megawatts of clean renewable energy could supply 400 to 500 houses with power during the irrigation season from April to October.
• Finally, farmers in the region will enjoy another reliable irrigation source for their crops. Oregon is a heavy agricultural state, and the crops account for 69 percent of the state’s total sales, according to the Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation. The state leads the nation in production of blackberries, hazelnuts, ryegrass seed, fescue seed, Christmas trees and storage onions. The farmland in the Deschutes River Basin that includes Whychus Creek also supports beef and dairy products.

To fully understand how the three benefits of piping the creek will work, you must first comprehend the shortcomings of the creek and the new technologies that will transform Whychus Creek into an efficient system.

Marc Thalacker discusses the project and the MegaMc Pipe Stands are profiled in the above video. (12 MB/WMV file)

The first goal of boosting the steelhead population will be achieved by increasing the creek’s water flow to 20 cubic feet per second, which is the minimum target flow requested by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. While the pipeline will boost the water flow, the fish won’t be traveling through the new creek made of polyethylene.

“We’re going to be installing a state-of-the-art Farmers Conservation Alliance fish screen to the pipeline,” said Marc Thalacker, manager of TSID. “There’s a chance we’ll have spawning (steelhead) adults coming all the way up to Sisters, Oregon. They haven’t done that since 1887. As a result, those fish alone can double the steelhead run in the Deschutes River.”

Lengths of the twin 54-inch pipeline are pulled into the bed of Whychus Creek.

With more than 60,000 water dams and diversions in Oregon, fish screens are increasingly used to keep fish out of dangerous areas. Those 60,000 diversions also contribute to a movement toward more hydroelectric power in Oregon.
“About 90 percent of our power is generated by the Columbia River basin system of federal hydroelectric power dams” said Alan Guggenheim, member services director for Central Electric Cooperative in Sisters. “The Three Sisters Irrigation District project would help save water and energy with zero carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Sounds like a win-win for everybody.”

The project will not only create energy, but conserve it. With more water flow throughout the year, farmers will be able to turn off their water pumps that use electricity and take some of the water from the rejuvenated and more efficient irrigation ditch.

If you doubt the farmers’ dependence on HDPE in the region for improved irrigation, consider that at the time of the 54-inch pipeline installation, a volunteer workforce of area farmers were fusing a 36-inch irrigation line on a farmer-owned McElroy 1236 machine just a few miles away. In all, half of the irrigation district’s 60 miles of pipeline are HDPE.

With the opportunity to benefit in three ways, TSID turned to their experience and knowledge of polyethylene pipe to retain and recoup such a critical resource as water.

TSID purchased 30,000 feet of 54-inch JM Eagle HDPE for the first two phases of the 3.77 dual pipeline construction and installation.  To construct the pipelines, TSID used a portion of an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) grant to hire six operators and technicians to fuse the pipe. The workers used a McElroy MegaMc ® 1600 to fuse lengths of pipe together. The MegaMc 1600 is McElroy’s largest fusion machine and was provided by ISCO Industries.

The 1600 turned out to be ideal for the job because of the machine’s clearance. While some fusion machines on the market typically require a crane or heavy machinery to left the heater and facer into the jaw carriage of the machine, the 1600 has a hydraulic pivoting heater and facer. Because there were no cranes in the way, the 1600 was tented to protect the fusion joint and operators from the wintry elements.

To better move the heavy-wall pipe, TSID used McElroy’s newest productivity tool – the MegaMc Pipe Stand. The pipe stand is a gasoline-powered, self-contained piece of equipment that offers hydraulic power and integrated rollers to help an operator move a stick of pipe horizontally and vertically in order to achieve better alignment. Pipe stands are critical for saving wear and tear on fusion machines, while making the fusion process easier for the operator. Technicians on site in Oregon believed the powered pipe stand saved up to 30 minutes on the fusion joints.

A front-end loader places a stick of pipe in the MegaMc Pipe Stand, which will adjust the horizontal and vertical placement of the pipe in relation to the fusion machine.

Marc Thalacker requested the MegaMc Pipe Stand for this job as soon as he learned of the new product. A big believer in having the proper job site setup to save time and money, Thalacker and his team were averaging six fusion joints per day.

While it’s great that the job site is a model of efficiency, it’s the completed pipeline’s efficiency that could reap the biggest benefits for the Deschutes River Basin.