Utah 26 December 25, 2016

Page 1

UTAH STATE EDITION

A Supplement to:

®

December 25 2016 Vol. II • No. 26

“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.” Your Utah Connection – Dennis Hogeboom – 1-877-7CEGLTD – dennishogeboom@cegltd.com

USDA-NRCS Refurbishes Utah’s Tibble Fork Dam By Lori Tobias CEG CORRESPONDENT

Tibble Fork Dam is a popular high mountain lake in Utah County, Utah, drawing innumerous kayakers, canoers and paddleboarders to its cool waters. But this year, the dam was dry, forcing recreational users to sit the summer out. But it’s all for a good cause and short term. “We helped the North Utah County Water Conservancy District build the dam back in the ’60s,” said Norm Evenstad, water resources coordinator with the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service. “Congress has made funds available for us to go back in to upgrade these dams to meet the current technology and engineering criteria for hydrology and seismic upgrades because we know a lot more now about hydrology and earthquakes and those hazards. But we had to drain the water to work on the embankments. We don’t want a big wall of water above the workers so it has

NRCS photo

The most challenging part of the $7.3 million job is building a trench in the upstream side of the dam to guard against seepage under the foundation of the dam.

to be drained to refurbish it.” The dam was originally built in the 1950s for flood control and then upgraded in the 1960s for

water storage. The most challenging part of the $7.3 million job is building a trench in the upstream side of the

dam to guard against seepage under the foundation of the dam. “It’s going to be at its deepest point, 70 feet deep. We have to

have special equipment that can get down that deep. We have to go down seven stories deep into foundation of the dam and then place a grout curtain. After they have this trench excavated, they will have another machine that pours a soil cement mix and it provides an impermeable barrier to water seeping through the dam and foundation. “Right now there is a lot of seepage. All dams leak, but we don’t want the leaks to be formed in the dam embankment itself. We want that leakage to pop out farther down the valley. That’s really going to be the major unique part of this construction process. It gets the engineers excited, and the geologists.” The project, which began in June, also includes raising the dam 15 ft. (4.6 m), using thousands of cubic yards of soil materials. They also will build a new auxiliary spillway. “That’s the part of the structure, if water gets up high, we don’t see DAM page 8

Airport Terminal Construction Costs Increase $350M The Salt Lake City Department of Airports has announced that the budget for the Terminal Redevelopment Program (TRP) has increased by $350 million primarily because of rising construction and labor costs. Estimated construction costs for the entire redevelopment program, which now includes the North Concourse, are estimated at $2.9 billion as of Nov. 2016. Salt Lake City and Utah’s robust construction market has resulted in bids for labor and materials coming in higher than originally estimated in the spring of 2015.

Typically, construction activity for the Utah market averages $2.5 billion annually; however, in the current economic climate, construction activity is hovering around $5 billion annually — an all-time high. “Utah is enjoying a very strong economy, which is resulting in severe labor constraints and a substantial increase in the cost of materials,” said Airport Advisory Board Chair Igor Best-Devereux. “Because of the checks and balances that the Department of Airports has in place, the Airport staff was able to see AIRPORT page 10

The Salt Lake City Department of Airports has announced that the budget for the Terminal Redevelopment Program (TRP) has increased by $350 million.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Utah 26 December 25, 2016 by Construction Equipment Guide - Issuu