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269:, ASCI, opened in 2007. They do not have heated water. The Dickerson Power Plant operates at a fraction of what it did 10 years ago, so the heated water is decreased accordingly. They both feature circular water channels with conveyor belt lifts from the course end to the beginning, plus bigger drops, wider eddies, mid-course pools, and guided raft trips for tourists. Dickerson is for decked, hard-shell boats only. All three facilities are used for canoe and kayak training and as venues for competitions.
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The course has four 200 ft (61 m) sections, connected in a straight line, end-to-end, with a 2-foot (0.61 m) drop at the end of each section. A final 100-foot (30 m) section ends in the river, with or without a drop, depending on the river level. Overall slope adds another seven
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The course was redesigned in the fall of 2002, once again by John
Anderson. A new scale model was built, this one outdoors and onsite. After testing his new arrangement of flow-diversion features on the model, he specified new locations for some of the artificial boulders. The wing dam on the left
176:
to the
Potomac River, 41 miles (66 km) upstream from Washington, D.C. Water is pumped from the river, warmed as much as 35 °F (20 °C) as it cools the power plant's three coal-fired generators, and then emptied into the channel for gravity flow back to the river. (The plant has three
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To use the course without a certified instructor present, a paddler must pass a "blue card" test: namely, pause in each of the numbered eddies, in sequence, and roll in the current, not in an eddy, between eddies 1 and 5 at the top, and again between eddies 1 and 5 at the bottom. During the blue
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In the 1960s, local canoe and kayak paddlers began conducting winter practice in the heated
Potomac River water immediately below the discharge channel. Nearly three decades went by before paddler Scott Wilkinson got the idea of moving the practice up into the concrete-lined channel itself. In
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In
October 2003 a persistent problem at the end of the course was fixed. Whenever the Potomac River level is below 3.5 ft (1.1 m) on the Little Falls gauge 6,000 cu ft/s (170 m/s), there is a sheer drop between the end of the concrete channel and the river. In certain
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Construction companies building combustion turbine units on (and for) the Pepco Site, donated time and equipment, and the course was opened in
December 1991. The first race was held in June 1992. Athletes who trained at the Dickerson course won bronze and gold medals in the 1992 Olympics, and
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Streamflow through the course is 200 cu ft/s (5.7 m/s) to 600 cu ft/s (17 m/s), depending on the operation of the plant's three coal-fired generators and their six cooling water pumps. In the summer months, when water temperature in the channel exceeds 100 °F
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Because the water channel was designed for an industrial, rather than a recreational, function, there are no wide pools to serve as resting spots, and there is no easy way off the water, short of the end. The water is deceptively fast, and all but two of the eddies have swirling water with an
181:(38 °C), the course is closed for health reasons. It is also closed when the Potomac River rises above 5 feet (1.5 m) on the Little Falls gauge 20,000 cu ft/s (570 m/s), flooding the lower section of the course.
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This feature was modified by adding a concrete slab under the drop and two trapezoid-shaped diverters on the sides. The hydraulic was converted into a central tongue of water ending in a wave train, with an eddy on each side.
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feet of drop, for a total course drop of 15 feet (4.6 m), plus zero to four feet (0 to 1.2 meters) into the river at the end. The following map shows the arrangement of the visible and submerged features.
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Dickerson
Whitewater Course starting point. Power plant in background. Plastic kayaks enter the course by sliding down the concrete channel wall. More delicate fiberglass or composite slalom boats can be carried down the
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card test, the course must be running near full flow, 450 cu ft/s (13 m/s), and the river must be low enough that there is a significant drop from the bottom of the course into the river.
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The course was constructed in 1991, inside a pre-existing straight, 900-foot (270 m)-long concrete channel, 40 feet (12 m) wide. Since 1959, the channel has returned cooling water from the
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conditions of high course flow and low river level, a stream-wide retentive hydraulic, or "sticky hole," posed a hazard to paddlers who failed to correctly "
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194:, Pepco, which owned the plant at the time, approved the insertion of approximately 75 artificial concrete boulders and two wing dams into the channel.
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company. Except during special events, access requires membership in the
Potomac Whitewater Racing Center, a USA Canoe/Kayak National Training Center.
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There are two other artificial whitewater courses in the mid-Atlantic region: in
Charlotte, NC, and McHenry, MD. The Charlotte course,
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225:" across the drop. It was a worse problem for paddlers who had made a wet exit from an upside-down boat and were swimming the course.
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Wilkinson's fellow paddler John
Anderson, an architect, built a 1:12 scale model with flow-diversion features similar to those in the
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upstream component. From the river, paddlers must carry their boats the length of the course to re-enter and make another run.
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course built in North
America, and is still the only one anywhere with heated water. It remains an active training center for
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154:, was built for use by canoe and kayak paddlers training for the 1992 Olympic Games in Spain. It was the first pump-powered
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Middle Hole at low flow 200 cu ft/s (5.7 m/s), revealing the underwater rock that creates it.
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1991, he sold his idea to two of the power plant managers, and, in support of the 1992 Olympics team, the
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USGS Real-Time Water Data for USGS 01646500 POTOMAC RIVER NEAR WASH, DC LITTLE FALLS PUMP STA
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others have continued to win Olympic medals and world championships in subsequent years.
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side was moved downstream into section four. A crane was deployed for the moving job.
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One of two resting spots -- this one below the left-side wing dam in its new position.
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Side-surfing in the Middle Hole at full flow 600 cu ft/s (17 m/s).
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A winter day when the Potomac River was high enough to flood the final drop.
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racing, swiftwater rescue training, and other whitewater activities.
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Sir Alexander Mackenzie Canada Sea-to-Sea Bicentennial Expeditions
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other generators which use a different cooling system.)
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Artificial whitewater course in Maryland, United States
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Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon
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Gate #4 at the first drop, poles on separate wires.
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
1473:Canoeing and kayaking venues in the United States
265:, USNWC, opened in 2006, and the McHenry course,
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1281:Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival
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1251:Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival
1261:Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York
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430:Lowering them into place (water flowing).
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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1319:British Dragon Boat Racing Association
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267:Adventure Sports Center International
134:Midpoint of the 900-foot-long course.
1420:The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes
1372:International Dragon Boat Federation
557:by 2008 U.S. Olympian Scott Parsons.
47:adding citations to reliable sources
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304:22 gates for the September 26 race.
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1185:List of world records in canoeing
436:Washington Post full-page graphic
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453:Potomac Whitewater Racing Center
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406:Running water through the model.
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394:The channel as it was 1959-1991.
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263:U.S. National Whitewater Center
34:needs additional citations for
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457:Liquid Adventures Kayak School
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418:Shaping the concrete boulders.
328:Gate #5, single-pole upstream.
192:Potomac Electric Power Company
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1463:Artificial whitewater courses
1195:Au Sable River Canoe Marathon
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253:Unique features of the course
165:The facility is owned by the
58:"Dickerson Whitewater Course"
1266:Houston Dragon Boat Festival
1168:Canoeing and kayaking venues
289:Paddling a C1, decked canoe.
174:Dickerson Generating Station
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1349:Portuguese Canoe Federation
1276:Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival
1235:Riverland Paddling Marathon
474:Dickerson Whitewater Course
140:Dickerson Whitewater Course
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1304:American Canoe Association
1299:European Canoe Association
792:Women's Canadian medalists
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549:Two complete slalom runs
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1210:Hawkesbury Canoe Classic
1190:Adirondack Canoe Classic
787:Men's Canadian medalists
455:Cards are issued by the
341:Features of the Channel.
207:David Taylor Model Basin
843:Slalom Junior & U23
832:Women's kayak medalists
822:Women's canoe medalists
802:Women's kayak medalists
493:. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
1220:National Student Rodeo
903:Canoe and kayak diving
764:Standup paddleboarding
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1367:Canadian Canoe Museum
1215:Massive Murray Paddle
1162:Artificial whitewater
837:Mixed canoe medalists
827:Men's kayak medalists
817:Men's canoe medalists
797:Men's kayak medalists
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233:Present course design
201:artificial course in
156:artificial whitewater
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1073:Canoe paddle strokes
1030:Sturgeon-nosed canoe
546:before the 2003 fix.
43:improve this article
1359:Other organisations
1205:Dusi Canoe Marathon
959:International Canoe
879:Whitewater canoeing
874:Small-craft sailing
807:Paracanoe medalists
579:39.2088°N 77.4685°W
575: /
1324:Canoe Kayak Canada
1106:Albano buoy system
969:Recreational kayak
913:Canoe orienteering
858:Wildwater canoeing
662:Wildwater canoeing
490:Dickerson Workouts
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199:Segre Olympic Park
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1408:Paddle-to-the-Sea
1401:La Chasse-galerie
1020:Pacific Northwest
983:Traditional boats
717:Other disciplines
584:39.2088; -77.4685
160:whitewater slalom
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1309:Paddle Australia
1291:Governing bodies
1230:Waterside Series
1225:Thameside Series
703:Female medalists
635:Main disciplines
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32:This article
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20:
1425:
1418:
1406:
1399:
1178:Competitions
1166:
1126:Paddle leash
1121:Paddle float
974:Sprint canoe
927:Modern boats
918:Canoe livery
888:Sea kayaking
881: /
853:Ocean Racing
754:Snow boating
647:Canoe slalom
642:Canoe sprint
560:
498:
489:
473:
448:
434:
391:
340:
301:
286:
260:
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105:
99:January 2010
96:
86:
79:
72:
65:
53:
41:Please help
36:verification
33:
1427:Waterwalker
1329:Canoe Wales
1010:Fur brigade
744:Surf skiing
734:Nouka Baich
582: /
522:medium flow
511:Video Links
223:boof stroke
1457:Categories
1141:Spray deck
1083:Kayak roll
1065:Techniques
867:Recreation
657:Canoe polo
570:77°28′07″W
567:39°12′32″N
538:Slide Show
441:References
167:NRG Energy
142:, on the
69:newspapers
1314:Paddle UK
1244:Festivals
1111:Outrigger
1098:Equipment
1055:Swan boat
1050:War canoe
677:Paracanoe
526:full flow
148:Dickerson
1136:Sea sock
883:kayaking
848:Marathon
724:Creeking
686:Olympics
628:kayaking
624:Canoeing
518:low flow
152:Maryland
1444:Outline
1131:Royalex
1088:Portage
1025:Rabaska
273:Gallery
185:History
83:scholar
1155:Venues
1146:Tuilik
1116:Paddle
1035:Taimen
1005:Dugout
995:Cayuco
813:Slalom
783:Sprint
708:Venues
524:, and
126:steps.
85:
78:
71:
64:
56:
1392:Media
1040:Umiak
964:Malia
949:Flyak
939:Kayak
934:Canoe
392:1991.
146:near
90:JSTOR
76:books
1413:film
1045:Waka
626:and
553:and
540:2006
138:The
62:news
774:ICF
45:by
1459::
520:,
481:^
464:^
209:.
150:,
1415:)
1411:(
839:)
815:(
809:)
785:(
616:e
609:t
602:v
555:2
551:1
528:.
459:.
112:)
106:(
101:)
97:(
87:·
80:·
73:·
66:·
39:.
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