Technical Visits
ABOUT TECHNICAL VISITS
Please register early! Technical visits will be cancelled if they do not reach the minimum number of paid participants by 15 February 2017.
Minimum and maximum numbers of participants are noted. If the visit for which you have registered does not meet the minimum number by 15 February, IAIA HQ will notify you and provide refund information or offer to transfer you to another visit. After 15 February, registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until 15 March or the visits reach the maximum number. Registrations will be processed in the order that payment is received.
Prices for technical visits are shown in US dollars. Participants must be pre-registered and pre-paid to participate. If you must cancel, the fee will be refunded, less an administration fee of 25% of the technical visit cost and contingent upon written notice of cancellation received in HQ by 15 March. After that time, no refunds will be issued.
Guests of registered delegates are welcome to register for technical visits at the same rate.
Tours depart from the conference venue unless otherwise noted. Plan to check in for the visit a minimum of 15 minutes prior to the noted departure time.
Participants will be required to sign a liability release waiver upon check-in for the visits. See the bottom of this page for the waiver text.
list of IAIA17 TECHNICAL VISITSll visit descriptions can be found below.
Visit A: La Grande 2 Powerhouse and Chisasibi - CANCELLED
Visit B: Beauharnois Powerhouse on Saint Lawrence River
Visit C: Mont-Royal Park
Visit D: Maple Syrup Production
Visit E: Wendake Traditional Huron Settlement and Québec City - FULL
Visit F: Substations and Power Lines in Historic Montréal
Visit G: IREQ—Hydro-Québec Research Institute
Visit H: Saint-Michel Environmental Complex
Visit I: J.R. Marcotte Waste Water Treatment Plant - CANCELLED
Visit J: Building a New Bridge on the Saint Lawrence River
visit a: La Grande 2 Powerhouse and Chisasibi - CANCELLED
Located on the Eeyou - James Bay territory, more than 1,000 kilometers north of Montréal in a vast, isolated territory occupied for thousands of years by aboriginal groups, the La Grande-2 Powerhouse is one of the three largest underground power stations in the world. In operation since 1978, it is the most powerful of the eleven power stations of the La Grande complex.
Participants will take a 2.5 hour flight to the La Grande Complex, where they will take in a presentation of the complex and its past and present environmental issues. After lunch at the staff cafeteria, the group will do a winter tour of the La Grande-2 dam and spillway followed by a tour of the powerhouse.
Participants will then go by bus to the Chisasibi Cree village at the mouth of the La Grande River, 100 kilometers downstream. A tour of the village and a visit to the museum will allow visitors to become acquainted with the present and the traditional lifestyle of the Crees.
DATE: Sunday, 2 April
TIMES: Depart 07:00 | Return 19:00
MINIMUM-MAXIMUM: 15-18
PRICE: $870 (Price includes air and ground transportation and lunch.)
SPECIAL NOTES: Photo identification is required. Sturdy shoes/boots and a warm jacket are recommended. The return time may be subject to change depending on weather conditions.
visit B: Beauharnois Powerhouse on Saint Lawrence River
Located 40 km southwest of Montréal on the Saint Lawrence River, the Beauharnois Powerhouse was built starting in 1929. The award-winning architecture of this Art Deco structure has earned it a place among the country’s national historic sites. It has 38 generating units and an installed capacity of 1800 megawatts, spread out over almost one kilometer, making it Hydro-Québec’s most powerful run-of-the-river power plant.
The visit will include a presentation of the history of the powerhouse, its technical and architectural features, and its operating constraints, including cohabitation with the American eel, whose population is declining. Significant efforts have been made by Hydro-Québec to reduce the impact of powerhouse operation on this fish resource.
DATE: Sunday, 2 April
TIMES: Depart 08:30 | Return 12:00
MINIMUM-MAXIMUM: 13-23
Price: $40 (Price includes transportation and technical guide.)
SPECIAL NOTES: Photo identification is required. Walking shoes, gloves, and a warm jacket are recommended.
visit C: Mont-Royal Park
Formed some 125 million years ago, Mount Royal dominates the landscape of Montréal with a summit of 243 meters. Inaugurated in 1876, the Mount Royal Park was designed by Fre
derick Law Olmsted, the highly skilled designer behind many great American parks such as New York City’s Central Park.
Participants will hike approximately 3.5 km to the top of Mount Royal, enjoying lookouts on Escarpment Road, trails in the forest, and breathtaking views of the city from the Kondiaronk Gazebo. A guide will present the history of Mount Royal Park, the Monteregian geology, and the wildlife and conservation issues of this natural environment.
On the return trip, it will be possible to see from the bus another summit of Mount Royal, the Westmount Summit, as well as the Saint-Joseph’s Oratory, the largest church in Canada.
DATE: Sunday, 2 April
TIMES: Depart 13:30 | Return 17:00
MINIMUM-MAXIMUM: 13-20
PRICE: $55 (Price includes transportation.)
SPECIAL NOTES: Walking shoes, gloves, and a warm jacket are recommended. The hike will require approximately two hours of walking.
visit D: Maple Syrup Production
Maple syrup is only produced in North America. There are 7,500 maple syrup producers in Québec, producing 72% of the world’s pure maple syrup. This huge maple forest offsets the carbon emissions from 770,000 vehicles each year. Maple trees convert the starch generated during growth to sugar and store it in their trunk and roots. In the spring, this sugared water (sap) expands and causes pressure inside the maple tree. This water is then collected by tubes attached to blowpipes and fed by gravity or pumping to the sugar shack. At the sugar shack, the maple sap is collected in huge stainless steel tubs and sent to the osmosis unit before it is boiled and turned into maple syrup.
This visit will tour a maple grove, where participants will receive explanations on all stages of maple syrup production and discuss the evolution and exploitation of the resource. Participants will then enjoy a traditional dinner at the Sugar Shack, a festive Québec tradition.
DATE: Sunday, 2 April
TIMES: Depart 15:00 | Return 20:00
MINIMUM-MAXIMUM: 25-45
PRICE: $60 (Price includes transportation and dinner.)
SPECIAL NOTES: Walking shoes, gloves, and a warm jacket are recommended. The ground may be muddy.
visit E: Wendake traditional Huron Settlement and Québec City - FULL
Located on the Huron-Wendat reservation, the Huron Traditional Site is a unique opportunity to discover the history, culture, and lifestyle of the Hurons of the past and of today. The guided tour will visit the Long House, smokehouse, drying tent, sweating tent, and giant teepee, and will include a presentation on the present life of the Hurons in the village of Wendake. After the visit, participants will enjoy a traditional meal of game-based (bison, deer, wapiti) and fish (salmon and trout) cuisine.
In the afternoon, the group will visit Québec City, which is the heart of the French presence in North America. The tour will include three stops: Dufferin Terrace, which is located in the Upper Town of Québec, adjacent to the Chateau Frontenac at the base of the Citadel; the Petit-Champlain, with impressive historical architecture and cobblestone streets and the site of Quebec’s first port with some of the colony’s first houses; and Samuel-De Champlain Promenade, a 2.5 km landscaped park along the St. Lawrence River.
DATE: Monday, 3 April
TIMES: Depart 07:30 | Return 19:00
MINIMUM-MAXIMUM: 30-45
PRICE: $95 (Price includes transportation, lunch, and admission fees.)
SPECIAL NOTES: Walking shoes, gloves, and a warm jacket are recommended.
visit F: Substations and Power Lines in Historic Montréal
Locating and managing substations and power lines in a historic and dense urban environment is a challenge. Hydro-Québec’s EIA methodology to study and properly locate power lines and substations will be explained during this visit.
Participants will visit power lines from the Beauharnois Hydroelectric Power Plant crossing the scenic Saint Lawrence River, the Aqueduc substation and related lines with various designs and multipurpose uses of the right of way, and the construction site of the new Saint-Patrick Substation. The participants will also tour the remains of the old Lachine Rapids Hydroelectric Plant, the Atwater Substation, the indoor Viger Substation located in downtown Montréal, and the Central 2 and Adélard-Godbout Substation located in Old Montréal.
Issues related to power line design, such as heritage protection and archeological knowledge, will also be discussed.
DATE: Monday, 3 April
TIMES: Depart 08:00 | Return 12:00
MINIMUM-MAXIMUM: 13-23
PRICE: $40 (Price includes transportation.)
SPECIAL NOTES: Walking shoes, gloves, and a warm jacket are recommended.
visit G: IREQ—Hydro-Québec Research Institute
Reducing our hydrocarbon dependency requires the development of reliable and economical electricity supply sources. Hydro-Québec is the only North American electricity company to own a major research center, the Institut de recherche d’Hydro-Québec (IREQ).This research institute brings together 500 scientists, technicians, and engineers of all specialties focusing on the development of new constituents for batteries. They have three objectives: increase safety, improve performance, and reduce costs .
The tour includes a demonstration of the latest technologies and a tour of the research laboratories, including the Hypersim grid simulator, the robotics laboratory, and the high voltage and power laboratory.
DATE: Monday, 3 April
TIMES: Depart 08:30 | Return 12:00
MINIMUM-MAXIMUM: 13-20
PRICE: $40 (Price includes transportation.)
SPECIAL NOTES: Photo identification is required.
visit H: Saint-Michel Environmental Complex
The Saint-Michel Environmental Complex is located on 192 hectares of land in the center of the island of Montréal that hosted a quarry, a cement plant, and a landfill site. To reduce the nuisance caused by methane gas, 300 wells were installed to capture the biogas which is used to supply a power plant that serves 12,000 homes. You will visit various facilities, including the sorting and recycling center, composting and wood shredding site, as well as the city’s second largest park, which will be open to the public in 2017. You will also learn about the significant efforts devoted to upgrade the sector and to facilitate the coexistence with neighboring residential areas.
The visit is organized by TOHU, a non-profit dedicated to dissemination, creation, experimentation, and convergence of culture, environment, and community involvement. The visit also includes a tour of the TOHU Pavillon, which has been awarded LEED GOLD (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
DATE: Monday, 3 April
TIMES: Depart 08:30 | Return 12:00
MINIMUM-MAXIMUM: 13-24
PRICE: $40 (Price includes transportation.)
SPECIAL NOTES: Walking shoes, gloves, and a warm jacket are recommended. Dust and odors may be present.
visit I: J.R. Marcotte Waste Water Treatment Plant - CANCELLED
The Metropolitan Montréal sewage treatment plant is the largest in North America and the third largest in the world. Wastewater is collected by two interceptors over 75 kilometers in length, which annually carry nearly 1G m³ of water to the plant to be treated.
The participants will tour the plant and get informed on the various stages of treatment including screening, grit removal, physicochemical treatment, recovery and sludge dewatering, and ultimately, their recovery as fertilizer or for steam generation by combustion in four incinerators. An ozone disinfection stage is also being installed to improve the quality of water discharged into the Saint Lawrence River.
DATE: Monday, 3 April
TIMES: Depart 13:30 | Return 17:30
MINIMUM-MAXIMUM: 13-24
PRICE: $40 (Price includes transportation.)
SPECIAL NOTES: Walking shoes, gloves, and a warm jacket are recommended. Odors may be present. This tour is not recommended for pregnant women.
visit J: Building a new bridge on the Saint Lawrence River
Construction of the new Champlain Bridge represents one of North America’s biggest worksites. With its impressive scope, broadly visible along the Saint Lawrence River, this new bridge will change the urban look of Montréal and become a new symbol for the metropolis. In keeping with sustainable development practices, the project will lead the way in modern engineering and urban integration.
After a short brief on the project, participants will visit the project’s main temporary facility, the West Jetty, which spans 100 meters into the Saint Lawrence River and into which has been built three fish passages in order to make way for the springtime migration of the lake sturgeon and other fish. The tour will continue at the Cable Stayed Jetty, in the middle of the river, where participants will get a close-up look of the construction of the main tower, the signature element of the new bridge.
DATE: Monday, 3 April
TIMES: Depart 08:30 | Return 11:30
MINIMUM-MAXIMUM: 13-21
PRICE: $40 (Price includes transportation.)
SPECIAL NOTES: Walking shoes, gloves, and a warm jacket are recommended.
IAIA17 Technical visit waiver and release
All technical visit participants will be required to sign a liability release waiver upon check-in for the visits. The text of the release waiver can be found below. Note that IAIA, the organizing committee, and the venue will not be responsible for medical expenses, accidents, losses or other unexpected damage to property belonging to conference participants, either during or as a result of the conference and during all tours and events. Participants are strongly advised to arrange their own insurance for health and accident, lost luggage and trip cancellation.
I hereby WAIVE AND RELEASE the International Association for Impact Assessment from liability pertaining to my participation in IAIA17 Technical Visits.
I understand and agree that I am releasing not only IAIA, but also IAIA’s officers, agents, and employees. I understand and agree that by signing this Waiver/Release, I am assuming full responsibility for any and all risk of death or personal injury or property damage suffered by me while participating in the IAIA17 Technical Visit.
I understand and agree that this Waiver/Release will have the effect of releasing, discharging, waiving and forever relinquishing any and all actions or causes of action that I may have or have had, whether past, present or future, whether known or unknown, and whether anticipated or unanticipated by me, arising out of my participation in the IAIA17 Technical Visit, except for the acts or omissions of IAIA, its officers, agents or employees which are found to be negligent by a court of competent jurisdiction.
I understand and agree that this Waiver/Release applies to personal injury, property damage, or wrongful death which I may suffer, even if caused by the acts or omissions of others. I understand and agree that thisWaiver/Release will be binding on me, my spouse, my heirs, my personal representatives, my assignees, my children and any guardian for said children.
I confirm that I do not have any physical limitations, medical ailments, physical or mental disabilities that would limit or prevent me from participating in the IAIA17 Technical Visit.