Calaveras Dam building a new and improved Spillway

Things sure look much different than it did in the early 1900s when the workers at the Calaveras Dam site were building the original spillway for the existing Calaveras Dam.  Today, we are building a new spillway over twice the size of the original.

Calaveras Dam workers rebuilding the spillway in 1933

Calaveras Dam workers today working on the foundation of
the upper portion of the new spillway

What’s the Spillway for?

A spillway is a structure used to control the release of flows from a dam into a downstream area. Spillways release overflow of water or floods so that the water does not overtop and damage the dam. When complete, the new spillway for the replacement dam will be approximately 1,550 feet in length and will be constructed using 40,000 cubic yards of concrete. Much work still lies ahead, but we are well on our way to rebuilding a critical feature of the replacement Calaveras Dam.