Under this contract, the spillway crest structure and portions of the chute will be demolished and rebuilt. The four large steel radial gates will also be removed and will undergo refurbishing and recoating before reinstallation. Another portion of the work will stabilize the foundation underlying the crest structure. The work is scheduled to take place between July 2013 and December 2014.
Prior field investigations at Echo Dam indicated the foundation soils underlying both the dam and spillway are potentially liquefiable during a substantial earthquake, which could cause the dam and spillway to deform. A previous contract to modify the embankment and downstream foundation will be finishing in the fall of 2013. The entire seismic modification project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2014.
Echo Dam is a 158ft high-zoned earthfill structure on the Weber River, located one mile upstream from the town of Echo and 42 miles southeast of Ogden, Utah. Echo Dam was constructed between 1927 and 1931 as part of the Weber River Project to help supply supplemental irrigation water to approximately 109,000 acres of land west of the Wasatch Mountains. Echo Dam is owned by USBR and operated by the Weber River Water Users Association.
