Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for
Date of this Version
October 1973
Abstract
Construction of the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station on the SE shore of Lake Erie near Port Clinton, Ohio brings a massive, natural draft cooling tower (495 ft. high and 410 ft. wide at base) into migration pathways. Preoperational observations were undertaken to determine whether conditions existed under which the station structures intercepted migrating birds. Preliminary observations were made at the site (Fig. 1) in the fall of 1972 and intensified during the spring and fall migrations of 1973. Construction on the shell of the cooling tower was not completed until late in 1972; thus the full height had not been realized during the initial observations. The reactor building, though not completed, had essentially its full height (240 ft.) during this period.