GENERAL CONTRACTING | WEST
THE BACK-UP PLAN With its recent work on the Folsom Dam Joint Federal Project, Martin Brothers Construction is helping to give northern California a flood back-up plan. Story by Kevin D. Porter Photos courtesy of Martin Bros. Construction
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ith record drought conditions gripping over half the nation throughout the summer of 2012, the prospect of a dam reaching overflow levels might seem like a very remote possibility. However, spillways exist for a reason. With its recent work on the Folsom Dam emergency spillway, Martin Brothers Construction (MBC) is helping northern California and the San Joaquin Valley to be prepared. Martin Brothers Construction is a Sacramentobased general 8(a) Hubzone contractor specializing in civil infrastructure and horizontal/utility construction that primarily serves at the federal, state, county and local levels, in addition to commercial, industrial and residential development organizations. Since 2009, MBC has been working as part of a coalition to construct the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Folsom Dam Joint Federal Project ( JFP) – a $962 million overall effort to construct a 3,000 foot-long auxiliary spillway. The JFP is a joint effort between the Central Valley Flood Protection Board (CVFPB), Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (SAFCA), Department of Water Resources (DWR), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Spillways prevent the overflow of dams and allow the controlled release of water flow from a dam or levee into a downstream area when the reservoir is full – working much the same way as an overflow hole would in a sink. One of the world’s most well-known dams is the Hoover Dam, located on the border between Arizona and Nevada. Built from 1931 and 1936, the Hoover’s two spillways are situated on either side of the dam 27 ft. below its top. Water reaching that height will be captured by the spillways and routed into 50-foot-wide tunnels. Each spillway can divert 200,000 cubic ft. of water per second. In the entire history of the Hoover dam, its spillways have been used only twice. The Folsom Dam emergency spillway will consist of a control structure, spillway chute, stilling basin and approaching channel. The project is broken into five phases. Phases one and two, already completed, involved extensive site excavation. Phase three includes the construction of the control structure. Phase four involves the formation of the chute and stilling basin, while phase five encompasses
{FOLSOM DAM} CONTROLLED BLASTING Neil's Controlled Blasting LANDCLEARING Al's Land Clearing, Inc. ELECTRICAL M&M Electric Service, Inc.
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