The Yards Creek Generating Station, located in Blairstown, New Jersey, is a pumped-storage hydroelectric plant consisting of two reservoirs created by earth-fill embankment dams. The storage facility provides energy regulation and spinning reserve during on-peak hours and energy sink off-peak, from 11:00 pm – 7:00 am, to allow fossil and nuclear plants to remain more fully loaded.

Commercial operation began at the Yards Creek Generating Station in 1965. The original cooling water piping consisted of welded carbon steel pipe, but over time, the carbon steel piping system deteriorated. By 1984, the decision was made to replace the original welded system with a Victaulic grooved stainless steel system. The owner provided the original drawings of the project to the Victaulic Virtual Design and Construction Team who was able to produce isometric drawings enabling Joehanson to prefabricate the Victaulic grooved piping system to meet the construction schedule. Victaulic’s grooved solutions allowed the entire cooling water piping system to be replaced in less than two weeks due to its speed and ease of installation. The Victaulic solutions utilized on this project included:

• Flexible Kupplung Typ 77
• Style 07 Zero-Flex Rigid Coupling
• Series 761 Vic-300 Masterseal Butterfly Valve

Additionally, the Yards Creek Generating Station utilized Victaulic’s grooved solutions for its carbon steel fire protection piping system.

The grooved piping system has proved to be a fast, clean, safe, and dependable way of joining pipe when compared to welding or flanging. In the years since the initial retrofit installation, the plant has used Victaulic’s grooved solutions for multiple maintenance projects. Yards Creek Generating Station is owned by subsidiaries of Public Service Enterprise Group and First Energy and the Victaulic solutions utilized on the cooling water and fire protection systems are still in service today.