Ribbon Cutting

We are so fortunate and grateful to have reached this point.  Last Friday, May 10th, we held a ribbon cutting for the new powerhouse.  We were glad to have the opportunity to thank the many people that helped us complete this monumental project.  During the ribbon cutting we asked all the people that had participated … Continue reading “Ribbon Cutting”

New Bowersock power plant to start producing electricity

A new $25 million hydroelectric power plant on the north bank of the Kansas River is expected to start producing electricity as early as Friday, about a month ahead of schedule. The new skyline-altering project also is expected to produce something else: a rain dance or two. Leaders with the Bowersock Mills & Power Co. … Continue reading “New Bowersock power plant to start producing electricity”

Hitting Rock Bottom

Bowersock shows off construction site for new power plant On Friday, December 2, 2011, Bowersock Mills & Power Company co-owner Sarah Hill-Nelson talked with the Lawrence Journal World about progress being made on the construction of the hydroelectric power plant on the north side of the Kansas River. Hill-Nelson, a co-owner of the Lawrence-based Bowersock … Continue reading “Hitting Rock Bottom”

North Powerhouse Construction

Construction on the North Powerhouse is moving forward.  We received our final permits on June 1, 2011 and gave the green light to Kissick Construction to initiate work.  To date all has gone pretty well, with some minor ups and downs that our project manager Nathan informs me are pretty typical of construction projects.  We … Continue reading “North Powerhouse Construction”

Groundbreaking

The Bowersock Mills & Power Company will be hosting a Groundbreaking for the North Powerhouse Project at 2:30 PM on Monday, May 16th.  We plan a short event on the north shore of the river on the project site, followed by refreshments at the South Powerhouse.  Tours of the South Powerhouse will be available.  We … Continue reading “Groundbreaking”

North Powerhouse Public Meeting

Notice of Public Meeting Re: The Bowersock Mills and Power Company Proposed Expansion The Bowersock Mills and Power Company P.O. Box 66 Massachusetts Street at the Kansas River Bridge Lawrence, Kansas 66044 The Bowersock Mills and Power Company (BMPC or Bowersock) is the small hydroelectric power plant on the Kansas River in Lawrence, Kansas, which … Continue reading “North Powerhouse Public Meeting”

Boards Up

We have our boards up for the first time since January, 2009.  This is great for BMPC and we hope the KU Boaters as well.  Thanks to Rich, Mark, and Andy for all their hard work in making it happen!

Summer 2010 Update

We are still moving on the project and feel optimistic.  There are almost innumerable pieces to be put together here including three key items which are the regulatory approvals, a power purchase agreement, and financing.  Last week we had our special use permit for the City of Lawrence approved which was a great step.  In … Continue reading “Summer 2010 Update”

Long Time

It’s been too long since I updated this.  There is so much going on it is tough to keep all the balls in the air, but we have moved forward on a lot of fronts since I last wrote.  This week the City completed land geotech, and next week we are scheduled for barge-based geotech … Continue reading “Long Time”

Moving Forward

As of early March, it looks like we have forward motion on repairs to the dam.  We are particularly relieved because City Commissioners agreed that building a coffer dam is critical to the next stage of repairs to the dam.  Without a coffer dam, there is no way we could ensure that the repairs could … Continue reading “Moving Forward”

Boards and Millpond

As many people saw in the Journal World, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has required Bowersock to keep its millpond at damtop.  We can go into this at greater length later, but this will make things very difficult for Bowersock, and over the long term for the City and the University of Kansas Boathouse.  … Continue reading “Boards and Millpond”

Looks like a good hand…

It looks like we may have a good hand here.  Touch wood… Currently we have low water below 2,000 cfs predicted for early next week.  The Corps has been very responsive and communicative as we have worked for this window which has been extremely helpful.  Barring any major precipitation we have scheduled a visit from … Continue reading “Looks like a good hand…”

Word from the Corps

We spoke with the Corps of Engineers today and it looks like we won’t have a window to work on the dam until mid-January or more likely February.  The Corps keeps water in the reservoirs for waterfowl season until the lakes start to freeze, at which point they drop the levels to try to minimize … Continue reading “Word from the Corps”

Good water

What do we mean by good water?  If we didn’t need low water for dam and batter boards repairs, we’d say we have pretty good water for power production today – especially since most of our batter boards (or doors) are down.  We have about 8,000 cfs in the river, which would be too much … Continue reading “Good water”

Coming Soon

We are trying to categorize our posts now.  Use the category feature to chose a topic or click on “Most Recent” for the latest at Bowersock.  Thanks!