The pumping station houses the pumps, with 4500 HP each. A suction bell at the bottom of each pump pulls in the water, while the adjacent propeller pushes the water, by way of a discharge tube, into the bay. When all five pumps are running and the river gates are closed, more than three million gallons of water is removed from the Providence River.
Under normal conditions, only one or two pumps are running. 11,000 volts of electricity, provided by the Narragansett Electric Company (NELCO), are needed to start the pumps. Once provided with this power, the pumps start at full capacity instantaneously. NELCO supplies two lines to the Hurricane Barrier pumping station, with one serving as a backup in the event of loss of power. The Worthington Company of Boston built and installed the pumps between October 1962 and June 1963. The manufacturer and the Army Corps of Engineers inspect each pump once every five years. These routine inspections have indicated severe corrosion in all of the pumps' iron components. Reinforcing the iron components with an epoxy repairs this corrosion.
There has been much concern regarding the effectiveness of the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier. Its critics claim that in the event of rain and high tides caused by a severe hurricane, the Barrier will not be able to prevent all the excess water from entering downtown Providence. The Barrier was built with the capacity to eliminate more than the amounts of water produced by the Great 1938 Hurricane and Hurricane Carol of 1954. In the event of backflow (caused by extreme hurricane conditions), each pump is protected with a lid over the discharge pumps. Therefore, the pumps at the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier will be effective in the event of a hurricane or any event during what excess water enters the Providence River, threatening downtown.
