News Release Archive

Reclamation Awards $678,920 Contract to Refurbish Parker Dam Penstock Gates

Media Contact: Robert Walsh , 702.293.8421, rwalsh@lc.usbr.gov

For Release: October 02, 2006

The Bureau of Reclamation awarded a $678,920 contract September 26 to Blastco Incorporated of Houston, Texas, to perform maintenance on penstock gates and associated components at Parker Dam.

The penstock gates control the flow of Colorado River water to the dam's generators. The four gates, each roughly 26 feet by 38 feet and weighing approximately 50 tons, were installed in 1941 as part of the dam's construction. Other than minor touch-up and isolated spot repair, the gates have not been comprehensively refurbished since 1967.

The gates will be dismantled, refurbished, painted and reinstalled individually. The work, scheduled to begin in November, will take about eight months to complete.

Parker Dam is located on the California-Arizona border, 20 miles south of Lake Havasu City, Arizona. It forms Lake Havasu, from which Colorado River water is diverted in the Central Arizona Project Aqueduct for delivery to central Arizona and the Colorado River Aqueduct for delivery to the southern California coast. The dam also releases water for delivery to agricultural and municipal users in southern Arizona, southern California and Mexico. Its powerplant generates nearly 400 million kilowatt-hours a year, and that energy is distributed in southern California and southern Arizona.

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