USACE Awards $1.8B in Southern California Dam Safety Contracts to Barnard Construction

“At Prado Dam, we’re pairing smarter contracting with the modern engineering of a labyrinth spillway to offer a better degree of security for 1.4 million People,” stated Assistant Secretary of the Military for Civil Works Adam Telle in a launch. 

The venture combines two venture phases into one. The primary section fixes potential questions of safety by changing the outdated spillway with a labyrinth-style construction. Crews will demolish the prevailing partitions and slabs, rebuild them, after which tie the brand new system into the dam’s earthen embankments. The second section will increase the spillway’s crest by 20 ft to match the elevation of the 2005 essential dam embankment increase. 

Vital building is predicted to start by the spring of 2027 and is anticipated to be accomplished by 2033. The dam will stay absolutely operational and proceed to cut back flood danger throughout building.

Concurrently, the Corps awarded Barnard a $735-million contract for the Whittier Narrows Dam, a three-mile-long construction that manages flows from the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel rivers in Los Angeles County. Accomplished in 1957, the dam is situated about 11 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, making it essentially the most city dam operated by the Corps. 

The dam is classed as high-risk attributable to its location in a densely populated city hall and the venture will give attention to crucial security enhancements to the embankment and outlet buildings. 

Each tasks might be delivered by way of built-in design and building, which requires early contractor involvement. 

“Once we thought-about the best option to ship these tasks, early contractor involvement was the clear alternative as a result of we may companion with Barnard sooner than in a conventional building contract,” says George Sunny, venture supervisor for the U.S. Military Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District. “Collectively, we have now proactively recognized improvements and resolved constructability points earlier than breaking floor.”

Main building on each the Prado and Whittier Narrows tasks is slated to start within the spring of 2027, with anticipated completion by 2033. The Corps says each dams will stay absolutely operational all through building to take care of flood-risk administration for the area.