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Here are some projects from around the Association's 50th Anniversary:
The Black Brant is a Canadian-designed sounding rocket built by Bristol Aerospace in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Over 800 Black Brants of various versions have been launched since they were first produced in 1961, and the type remains one of the most popular sounding rockets ever built, with only two launch failures, both on prototypes. They have been used repeatedly by the Canadian Space Agency.
The Black Brant Model 5A was used in Canada's Eclipse Mission and became the rocket of choice by NASA and others. The rocket reached an apogee of 132 km.
The Manitoba Centennial Concert Hall opened March 1968. The 23,505 m2 building has a proscenium stage 24m wide and 12m deep, a hydraulic orchestra pit, and 2305 seats on 3 levels. The hall is acclaimed for its excellent acoustics and state of the art equipment.
The building was designed by the architectural firms Green Blenkstein Russell Associates, Moody Moore and Partners, and Smith Carter Searle Associates and the acoustician Russell Johnson.
The floodway is one of three major works designed and built after the flood of 1950.
It consists of four components: the floodway channel, the inlet control structure, the dikes and the outlet structure. Construction started in 1962 and was completed in 1968.
The floodway channel is 48 km long, designed with a depth of flow of 8m. The width at the top varies from 213 to 305 metres.
The inlet control structure is located on the Red River just downstream from the floodway inlet. Gates are raised from the bottom to regulate the flow between the Red River and the floodway channel. In summer the gates are submerged with about 1.8m of water.
Dykes prevent floodwaters from bypassing the inlet control structure. On the east side of the Red River the dykes are incorporated into the floodway banks. To the west the dyke extends for 34 km . During the 1997 flood the dyke was raised and extended another 25 km.
The outlet control structure dissipates the energy of the water as it drops and re-enters the Red River near Lockport.
The Shellmouth Dam is located 19 km north of Russell. Construction was initiated in 1964 and completed in 1972. The dam is an earth fill structure with a concrete spillway. The reservoir created by the dam is 56 km long.
Besides flood protection the dam provides low flow augmentation including in Brandon, Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg.
The Grand Rapids Generating Station 400km NW of Winnipeg is located on the Saskatchewan River four kilometres from Lake Winnipeg. It was officially opened November 13, 1965. The operating head is 36.6m, the largest in Manitoba. The four giant Kaplan turbines and generators have a total capacity of 472 MW and were the largest in North America for this head.
As well as producing electricity, the generating station is the controlling station for the entire power system. The units operate on load frequency control - responding to changes in demand to keep the frequency constant on the system. After upgrades during 1995 to 2000, the units are capable of running either in generation mode or in synchronous condenser mode to provide voltage support for transmission lines in the northern part of the province.
The Kettle Generating Station is on the lower Nelson River near Gillam. The Kettle generating station has 12 - 102 MW units, total 1220 MW. The operating head is 30m. The first unit was in service December 1970 and the last in 1974.
Kettle is a 'run of the river' station and the reservoir is confined within the riverbanks.
The electricity generated at Kettle as well as at the Long Spruce and Limestone stations is transmitted to southern Manitoba over two HVDC transmission lines.
The Manitoba Museum was built in 1965. He complex includes the museum halls, a planetarium, and a gallery which houses a replica of the Nonsuch, the ship which originally sailed into Hudson's Bay 1668.
Bipole 1 began transmission in June 1972 and Bipole 2 in 1978.
The 895 and 937 km twin lines, supported on guyed towers, were built at once. The lines follow PTH 6 through the interlake and veer from the highway north of Lake Winnipeg. The northern part of the lines traversed permafrost affected terrain that presented engineering challenges.
The alternating current power produced by Kettle, Long Spruce, and Limestone generating stations is converted to direct current at Radisson and Henday Converter Stations and converted back to alternating current at Dorsey Converter Station near Rosser MB.
The lines are rated at a voltage of +/- 450 kV. Bipole 1 operates at +/- 450 kV, 2000 A and Bipole 2 operates at +/- 500 kV, 1800 A.
The initial conversion in Bipole 1 was by mercury arc valves provided by English Electric. They have now been replaced by thyristor (solid state silicon switch) valves. Bipole 2 was built with the first water-cooled thryristor valves.
In 1963 Atomic Energy of Canada established a research facility in the Whiteshell to investigate, among other things, the use of organic coolants in atomic reactors.
Other work conducted at the laboratories includes the development of the Slow Poke reactor, for the production of heat for buildings and the investigation of underground storage of spent nuclear fuels.
A town site was developed at Pinawa, on the Winnipeg River, to serve the site.
The Richardson Building is an office tower at the intersection of Portage and Main in Winnipeg. It was built in 1969 by the Richardson family. The 34 story building stands 124 m tall and was the first true skyscraper in Winnipeg. It remains the second tallest building in Winnipeg. The structural frame is concrete and the building is clad in granite chip precast concrete.
The Safe-T base was developed by Dr. J. Shewchuck of the University of Manitoba.
The Safe-T base is a connection between a light standard and its foundation which is designed to provide a weak point should the standard be struck by a vehicle. This reduces the damage to the vehicle and occupants.
Versatile was the first company to mass-produce articulated four-wheel drive tractors, starting in 1966 with the D100 and G100 four wheel drives. Four-wheel drive demand increased with Versatile becoming one of the leaders in four wheel drive development.
Major manufacturers had tried marketing four-wheel drive tractors beginning in 1960 with limited success. Peter Pakosh and Roy Robinson of Versatile Manufacturing decided to build a low priced articulated four-wheel-drive tractor in 1965. The Versatile tractor was a 'component constructed tractor', one of the main reasons the Versatile emerged a leader and the price was competitive. The simple (bend in the middle) articulated steering was a key feature.
In 1967 the G125 gas powered and D118 diesel powered units were introduced and lead the market. These basic by modern standards tractors were followed by tractors ranging from 220 to 330 horsepower and larger.