Hawks Nest dam and tunnel - Ansted, WV

I took the drone out to capture the new river at its lowest level in 86 years at the Hawks Nest dam.
Built in the early 1930s, the Hawks Nest Dam created a 250 acre lake on the New River near Ansted, WV. Water from the lake is diverted through a 3 mile long tunnel under Gauley Mountain to a hydroelectric facility on the other end.
For the first time since 1936, no water flows through the 3.1-mile long Hawks Nest Tunnel, leaving the hydroelectric turbines at the power plant it serves idle.
“Until now, the tunnel has never been dewatered,” said Kevin Moriarty, area operations manager for Brookfield Renewable, the Canadian company that owns the Hawks Nest dam, tunnel and powerhouse.
The hydropower project, still West Virginia’s largest, “has had a good, productive life for more than 80 years,” Moriarty said. “We thought now, rather than later, was the time for a check-up and to make a few repairs to make sure it’s good to go for the next 80 or 100 years.”

[@YASIRALIVIRK]

Beautiful work

[@SkyCamWV]

Thank you very much!

[@youtuuba]

Nice, although this would have been better had it included the tunnel discharge and more details on the tunnel (length, when and how dug, under which mountain, etc).

[@SkyCamWV]

Excellent Feedback. When I went out I was hoping to see more of the tunnel but it was sealed off from any public access. Thank you!

[@sokkhun2241]

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