Comments on: To Silver Lake on the Pipeline

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:53:04 +0000

Thanks for your effort in digging up the answer Andrea!

Jeff

By: Andrea Suozzo

Andrea Suozzo — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:31:05 +0000

Jeff,

Steve Costello from CVPS just sent us a response to your question about the pipeline. Looks like you’ve already gotten this answer, but here’s what he says:

“The tall black structure is a surge tank for the CVPS hydroelectric
facility at Silver Lake. The tank is normally empty. It is designed to
prevent damage to the penstock, the black pipe that runs along the ground
from Silver Lake down to Route 53 near Branbury Beach. It works by acting
as a relief valve. Put another way, if pressure gets too high in the pipe
due to a sudden shutdown of the system, the surge tank allows water to go
up inside it, taking the pressure off the penstock itself. You’ve
probably seen the giant black tower along Route 7 in Rutland Town, just
before the city of Rutland. That is a larger version of the tower below
Silver Lake, and serves the same purpose for a penstock that comes down
from Chittenden to Rutland.”

-Andrea Suozzo
Addison Independent

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sat, 29 May 2010 20:59:42 +0000

Thanks JC! I hope you can find the time and ability to get out and relive some of those memories.

By: John

John — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:31:48 +0000

Hi Jeff,
I really enjoy your column, as they revive fond memories of when I was younger and traveled many of the routes you write about. Keep up the good work. Peace JC

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 21 May 2010 13:55:27 +0000

Thanks Beth, for your information and your compliment on the blog!

By: Beth

Beth — Thu, 20 May 2010 21:47:46 +0000

That “strange” structure is the surge tank for the Silver Lake hydroelectric project. It’s basically a huge pressure relief valve in the event the flow through the penstock changes abruptly.

Great blog btw!