A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Geosynthetic Clay Liner Used to Rehabilitate Lower Chinns Dam, Colorado
The Lower Chinns Dam is an earthen/rockfill embankment located in Clear Creek County, Colorado. The dam was built in the early 1900s for irrigation water supply. The dam is approximately 300 ft long with a height of 16.5 ft at the maximum section. The outlet pipe is 15-in. PVC with a capacity of 16 cubic ft per second (cfs). The reservoir was placed under a zero-storage restriction by Colorado Division of Water Resources, Colorado Dam Safety, due to ongoing seepage through the dam and the accumulation of sediment on the downstream side from material piped of the dam. The primary goal was to complete a repair for the dam that addressed the seepage concerns. The repair included construction of an upstream seepage reduction blanket, fabricated from a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) to reduce and control the seepage water that was entering the dam embankment. The design included flattening the upstream slope of the embankment to a 2.5:1 (horizontal:vertical) maximum slope, requiring that the existing outlet pipe be extended approximately 15 ft. To limit the development of preferential flow paths along the exterior of the outlet pipe, the extended outlet pipe was backfilled with bentonite-augmented soil. Design and construction challenges included a short construction season due to the high elevation mountain location, the remote site location, and a limited budget for the repair. The repair proved to be effective, eliminating the seepage and piping problems. This paper will discuss the history of the dam, the seepage and piping problems, the repair options, considered the design of the repair, and construction.
Geosynthetic Clay Liner Used to Rehabilitate Lower Chinns Dam, Colorado
The Lower Chinns Dam is an earthen/rockfill embankment located in Clear Creek County, Colorado. The dam was built in the early 1900s for irrigation water supply. The dam is approximately 300 ft long with a height of 16.5 ft at the maximum section. The outlet pipe is 15-in. PVC with a capacity of 16 cubic ft per second (cfs). The reservoir was placed under a zero-storage restriction by Colorado Division of Water Resources, Colorado Dam Safety, due to ongoing seepage through the dam and the accumulation of sediment on the downstream side from material piped of the dam. The primary goal was to complete a repair for the dam that addressed the seepage concerns. The repair included construction of an upstream seepage reduction blanket, fabricated from a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) to reduce and control the seepage water that was entering the dam embankment. The design included flattening the upstream slope of the embankment to a 2.5:1 (horizontal:vertical) maximum slope, requiring that the existing outlet pipe be extended approximately 15 ft. To limit the development of preferential flow paths along the exterior of the outlet pipe, the extended outlet pipe was backfilled with bentonite-augmented soil. Design and construction challenges included a short construction season due to the high elevation mountain location, the remote site location, and a limited budget for the repair. The repair proved to be effective, eliminating the seepage and piping problems. This paper will discuss the history of the dam, the seepage and piping problems, the repair options, considered the design of the repair, and construction.
Geosynthetic Clay Liner Used to Rehabilitate Lower Chinns Dam, Colorado
Kuehr, Steve (author)
Rocky Mountain Geo-Conference 2021 ; 2021 ; Westminster, Colorado
Rocky Mountain Geo-Conference 2021 ; 133-151
2021-04-14
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Use of a Geosynthetic Clay Liner to Rehabilitate the Lower Chinns Dam, Clear Creek County, Colorado
| British Library Conference Proceedings | 2019
| NTIS | 1998
| NTIS | 1998