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The Frontier-Kemper/ASL Joint Venture was formed to construct the underground workings of the John Hart Generating Station Replacement Project in Campbell River, British Columbia. Built in 1947, the existing 126-megawatt station represents approximately 17 percent of the total generating capacity on Vancouver Island. The replacement project creates a more reliable, seismically robust and environmentally friendly facility with an increased installed capacity of 132 megawatts. SNC Lavalin signed an agreement with BC Hydro to design, build, partially finance, and rehabilitate the John Hart Generating Station Replacement Facility.

The principal feature of the project is the underground powerhouse, where three turbines totaling 132 megawatts will be fed by an 8.1-meter by 8.1-meter, inverted, D-shaped, power tunnel 1.6 kilometers long, excavated with drill-and-blast methods. A series of adits and ramps will provide temporary and permanent access to the crown and service bay of the 23-meter by 39-meter by 93-meter underground powerhouse. A drop raise shaft is foreseen in the powerhouse, facilitating the spoils removal cycle while excavating the powerhouse benches. An intake shaft (6.5-meter diameter by 60-meter deep) excavated using conventional shaft sinking methods will conduct water from the intake structure to the entrance of the power tunnel. A shaft (4-meter diameter by 109 meters deep) excavated by a raise bore machine will accommodate the upstream surge requirements of the system. A tailrace tunnel 6.5 meters by 10.7 meters excavated by top heading and bench using drill-and-blast methods will conduct water 550 meters from the draft tubes and bypass tunnels to the tailrace structure on the Campbell River.