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March 5, 2017 • Vol. IX • No. 5 • 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215/885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215/885-2910
Inside
Oroville Dam Avoids Catastrophe ... For Now By Chuck Harvey CEG CORRESPONDENT
Paving Industr y Gather s in Denver for RMACES...22
Yoder & Frey Holds Six-Day Auction in Florida...40
Ritchie Br os. Br eaks Recor ds in Florida...44
Table of Contents............4 Attachment Section ..................................23-25 Recycling Section....29-34 Trucks & Trailer Section.. ..................................35-36 Auction Section.......39-51 Business Calendar........ 49 Advertisers Index..........50
California’s Department of Water Resources is looking ahead on how it can fortify and improve Oroville Dam’s spillways to prevent future water damage and threat of catastrophic flooding. The department and downstream residents had quite a scare in early February after the area was hit hard by a series of drenching winter storms. Lake Oroville is about 75 mi. north of Sacramento and about 25 mi. southeast of Chico. The dam is the tallest in the United States. As Oroville Lake filled to near capacity, water was released over the dam’s concrete main spillway. In doing so, a large hole developed in the spillway ramp. Then erosion at the base of a nearby emergency (auxiliary) spillway threatened the stability of the spillway wall which holds back billions of gallons of water. That led to an evacuation order for more than 100,000 residents in the path of the dam. The main spillway was put back into use after a brief examination and water levels in Lake Oroville were brought down to safer levels. But damage was fairly extensive to both spillways. Using helicopters and bulldozers, crews worked to fill in eroded areas near the emergency spillway wall. As of Feb. 23, they had
California Department of Water Resources photo
Officials detected a large hole where earth was eroding away a path of dirt toward the concrete retaining wall.
brought in 100,000 cu. yds. (76,455.5 cu m) of rock and sand and 11,600 cu. yds. (8,868.8 cu m) of cement, which was poured over the rocks and sand. The main spillway needed further examination to determine if the hole could be repaired or if a new spillway would need to be constructed.
“In a couple of days, we will examine it to determine repairs,” said Chris Orrock, information officer of the California Department of Water Resources. Meanwhile work continued on filling holes and stabilizing the area near the emergency see SPILLWAY page 10
DOT Chiefs Tell Congress to Up Federal Funding The heads of departments of transportation for two western states told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee they need Congress to craft an infrastructure investment plan that provides new federal funding to help states improve their systems and meet growing demand. William Panos, Wyoming DOT director, and Shailen Bhatt Colorado DOT executive director,
made their comments at a Feb. 8 EPW hearing on “Modernizing our Nation’s Infrastructure.” Both said the transportation networks in their states are important to the nation as cross-country routes for freight and personal traffic besides serving their own residents. Panos said his statement, which emphasized the perspective of rural states with nationally important assets but low population lev-
els, also represented the DOTs of Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. He said rural states would need direct federal funding rather than private financing or new bond programs that require a repayment revenue stream. “With sparse populations and extensive road networks, the cost per capita of paying off principal and interest is high in rural states,” Panos said in prepared remarks.
“Wyoming’s estimates indicate that current funding does not enable Wyoming to maintain, much less improve, its road and bridge conditions. If Congress chooses to advance an infrastructure initiative including surface transportation investment, the funds would be put to good use promptly.” Officials representing President Trump have speculated that pubsee TRANSPORTATION page 20