Green Ridge Glade Reservoir Dam Expansion

Submitted by SEMA Construction Inc.

The City of Loveland's Water Storage Dam Project involved raising the existing Green Ridge Glade Reservoir Dam to increase the city's storage capacity from 600 acre ft to more than 6,000 acre ft.

The project included nearly two million cu yds of engineered dam and roadway embankment fill generated from onsite borrowed sources; 26,000 ln ft of raw water supply line ranging from 18 to 54 in. in diameter; 8,000 cu yds of concrete backfill and structures; and 60,000 yds of structural rock blasting.

From a constructability standpoint, this project presented two unique challenges - water supply and fill placement. Before construction could begin, the existing water supply facility had to be taken offline.

SEMA Construction designed and installed an alternate supply system capable of delivering 45 cu ft per second of raw water from the city's supply gates located over one mi. from the water treatment plant. SEMA increased the size and adjusted the layout of planned future pipeline improvements to construct a temporary gravity flow system that worked so well the city elected to utilize it as a permanent alternate supply.

To meet an aggressive construction schedule and allow for the capture of runoff one season ahead of schedule, SEMA placed the majority of the fill during the winter of 2003-2004. SEMA developed a method of rapid material placement coupled with dry lifting and conditioning, resulting in fill material being placed, compacted and covered before it could be adversely impacted by winter conditions. This process also effectively met the exacting standards for dam construction imposed by the engineer, URS Corp. and the state engineer.

The innovative approach to the work, along with the cooperative, common-sense mentality of the entire team, resulted in a quality project completed under challenging circumstances within budget and ahead of schedule.

Project Team

Owner: City of Loveland
Engineer: URS Corp.
General Contractor: SEMA Construction Inc.
Major Subs: American Mine Services, Layne Geo-Construction, Coulson Excavating

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