News Release Archive

Reclamation Announces Contract Award for Overlay Work on the Mormon Island Auxiliary Dam Modification Project

Media Contact: Pete Lucero, MP Region Public Affairs Officer, 916-978-5100, plucero@usbr.gov

For Release: July 11, 2013

FOLSOM, Calif. – The Bureau of Reclamation has awarded a $45,719,235 contract for the second phase of Safety of Dams modifications to the Mormon Island Auxiliary Dam. MIAD, located approximately two miles east of Folsom, Calif., is part of the “Folsom Facility,” which also includes Folsom Dam and Reservoir and eight earthfill dikes. The contract was awarded to Suulutaaq, Inc. of Suisun City, Calif., a Small Business Administration certified 8(a) Alaska Native Corporation. The work, which will include the overlay of material on MIAD’s downstream embankment and the installation of filters and drains, is expected to begin in fall 2013 and be completed in spring 2016.

Reclamation Commissioner Michael L. Connor stated, “Reclamation is pleased to award this critically important contract. Completing this Safety of Dams project will significantly enhance the continued safety of the people who live and work downstream of the Mormon Island Auxiliary Dam.”

The MIAD Modification Project is part of the Folsom Dam Safety and Flood Damage Reduction project, approved in 2007, through which Reclamation is working to reduce hydrologic (flood), seismic (earthquake) and static (seepage) risks at the Folsom Facility. In June 2010, Reclamation issued a Record of Decision for the MIAD Modification Project, selecting Alternative 4, Cellular Open Excavation and Overlay. The modifications are being constructed in two phases:

  • Phase 1, which began in October 2010 and was completed in February 2013, consisted of one 50-foot by 50-foot trial excavation and five approximately 150-foot by 50-foot excavations to bedrock just downstream of the dam that were backfilled with concrete and highly compacted soil to provide strength during earthquakes.
  • Phase 2, which Suulutaaq, Inc. will construct, consists of increasing the mass of MIAD by placing various zones of sand, gravel and crushed rock on the downstream side of the dam. Phase 2 is designed to work in tandem with Phase 1 to provide a more earthquake-resistant embankment and a filter system.

The Record of Decision and other documents related to the MIAD Safety of Dams work are available at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_project_details.php?Project_ID=3472. Information on the Folsom Dam Joint Federal Project, including the MIAD work, may be viewed at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/jfp/index.html.

For questions, please contact Chelsea Stewart at 916-989-7155 (TTY 916-989-7285) or cstewart@usbr.gov.

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The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.

Relevant Link:

http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=3472

JFP