A New Bridge for the New Year

We at the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project have been talking a lot about the new spillway under construction at the dam. And why not? It is as wide as a six lane freeway, with walls that are 40 feet tall, and it is 1500 feet long. We placed over 50,000 cubic yards of concrete into the structure to date, and it has been the major focus of activity at the dam for over a year.  Spillways allow dams to safely discharge water without overtopping. This is a key safety feature of any dam, particularly Calaveras Dam as it is an earth and rock fill dam.

Last week we sent out a traffic notice for users of Calaveras Road to be aware that three large trucks would be making a very special delivery for our favorite spillway – its bridge. So special that it had to be trucked in six sections all the way from Ohio.

The spillway bridge will allow future personnel to drive across the top of the spillway safely and access the top of the new dam and outlet works at the toe of the dam. Crews used special cranes to begin installation of the bridge this week. We will be completely done with the spillway this spring.

 

Photos courtesy of Lead QA Inspector Glen Gorski and QC Engineer Shary Truong