The Fox Point Hurricane Barrier
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From Oil to Gas

The Fox Point Hurricane Barrier, also, From Oil to Gas. . , The Fox Point Hurricane Barrier , As soon as a hurricane or other storm starts causing waters to rise, when people are buying all the bread they can find, seven or eight members of the Providence Department of Public Works' Engineering Division start putting the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier to work., The barrier, completed in 1966, extends from Allens Avenue to India Point Park to protect the city of Providence from flooding by the Providence River and Narragansett Bay. Flooding may result from heavy rains or a "storm surge," when a coastal storm pushes water up the Bay; a storm surge becomes a critical problem when it rides the high tide, as it did when the hurricanes of 1938 and 1954. The barrier defends the city in two ways: First, it stops the storm surge from coming into the city. Second, to allow the river to keep flowing out normally and not back up, a pumping station pumps the river's water up and through the barrier into the Bay. The concept is fairly simple, but there are some complicated components that make it work., The Dikes , The dikes made of armor stone (a dense, impervious type of rock) extend inland from the Providence River's banks to where the land is 25 feet above sea level, high enough to contain a storm surge., The River Gates , The hurricane barrier contains three openings, through which both of the river's water and small boats can pass. When a storm threatens the city with flooding, gates over these openings are lowered, to ward off the surge. The gates, 40 feet square, weigh 53 tons and curve outward toward the Bay, to break the impact of the waves. They descend at a rate of 1½ feet per minute, taking roughly 30 minutes to be in place. They are lowered and raised by chains, which are turned by electric motors housed within "mechanical buildings" atop each gate., The Pumping Station , The pumping station houses five pumps that keep the river's water from backing up when the river gates are down. Powered by a 4,500-horsepower motor that turns a 137-ton impeller pump 150 times a minute, each pump is capable of lifting 630,000 gallons of water per minute. A full tilt, the station can pump 3,150,000 gallons of water every minute!, The Vehicular Gates , Spaces were left in the barrier's dikes for Allens Avenue and South Main Street where these roads intersect the dikes. During a flood, these spaces must be sealed and vehicular gates do this job. The gates are swung manually, toward the city, and locked into place with "arms" (on the gates themselves) and "feet" (anchored under the road). The gates on Allen Avenue, shown here, are 13 feet high and 76 feet wide., From Oil to Gas , In 1996, the NEES subsidiaries New England Power and Narragansett Electric completed the repowering of Manchester Street Station., The Manchester Street Repowering Project converted the old fuel-oil service from the 1960's into a modern, energy-efficient, combined-cycle system that uses natural gas as the primary fuel. Three new combined cycle units are each equipped with a gas turbine and a heat recovery steam generator, piped to a steam turbine. The new steam turbines, connected to existing generators, replaced the three existing 1940's steam turbines because they conserve energy by using the exhaust from the new gas turbines. The project combines use of the nearly century old, 52,000 square foot powerhouse with a new 56,000 square foot steel-framed, masonry-clad turbine building. The three 320-foot high stacks are an important feature in the Providence skyline. A new switchyard was also added., Although the plant generates six to eight times more power than before, there is a net decrease in air emissions. In addition to improved air quality, other benefits have resulted from the Repowering Project, including the transformation of the abandoned coal yard into Collier Point Park, Point Street Landing, the restoration of an historically significant plant, and the improved appearance of the Providence waterfront.