News Release Archive

Reclamation Awards Deadwood Dam Contract

Media Contact: John Redding, (208) 378-5212
Larry Wolf

For Release: May 13, 2003

The Bureau of Reclamation awarded a $680,125 contract on May 13, to Johnson Western Gunite Company of San Leandro, California, to rock bolt the downstream left abutment at Deadwood Dam located in a remote area of the Boise National Forest about 90 miles northeast of Boise, Idaho.

The modifications are necessary to stabilize the left abutment under certain static and seismic loading conditions. The Modification Report for Deadwood Dam was approved by Congress earlier this month when a 30-day waiting period expired clearing the way for the award. The contractor has until the end of October to complete the work.

The modifications to the dam are authorized under the Reclamation Safety of Dams Act of 1978, as amended in 1984. According to the Act, authorized purposes are required to repay 15 percent of the safety of dam's project costs. Irrigation and power are the authorized purposes of Deadwood Dam. The total project cost, including the construction contract, design costs, construction management, investigations, and other Safety of Dams activities is estimated at about $3,000,000.

Deadwood Dam was completed by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1931. The 165 foot high, concrete arch dam can store 161,900 acre-feet of water, of which Emmett Irrigation District owns 90 percent of the contracted space. Water released from Deadwood Dam is also used for power generation at Black Canyon Dam and other facilities further downstream.

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