GALLERY: Millsite dam project: concrete still on hold

By Patsy Stoddard

The Millsite Dam project has been held up on the concrete/spillway side since May but the embankment project continues to edge up the downstream side of the dam.
Eric Dixon from the Utah Division of Water Resources, said there are some last minute clean-up items that need to be done on the outlet works but the flow meters are hooked up and working. These meters will tell you how much water is going into the pipes.
Most of the irrigators are out of water. There will be stock watering during the winter and the power plant and Ferron City will still utilize the remaining water in the Millsite Reservoir.
There is also a prior water right which requires some water be sent downstream.
The embankment raises approximately 3 feet per week. In mid-September they were 10 feet away from the three layer zone. It’s expected the project will go faster when they arrive at the three layer zone level. All earth work will stop when the weather temperatures drop to freezing.  Frozen soils will not have the correct compaction levels so the dirt work will cease at that time and pick-up again in the spring. “All is going well with the lifting of the embankment,” said Dixon. Currently five layers are going into each zone. Day shift works on the fill and night shift works on the berm.
“The bridge for the golf course has been delivered and is onsite. The work on the spillway is still at a standstill. The design team is working with the NRCS to address all design concerns with the concrete,” said Dixon.
After a new recommended design is ready, it will be sent to the NRCS offices  in Fort Worth and to the dam safety for final review. Once coordination on the local level is complete the review will forward for national review.
The repairs on the flip bucket at the tip of the spillway is proceeding.
The dam project was set to be complete in December, but due to the hold up on the concrete the project completion has been pushed back to summer of 2019. Dixon said all milestones for completions will be reviewed and reset to reflect the current conditions.
Dixon said all concrete walls which are currently poured are OK. The new concrete design will be enforce for all future walls and the floor which hasn’t been poured, mainly the labyrinth weir closest to the reservoir side of the spillway.
Tracy Behling, from the Ferron Canal Company said in one of the managers meetings that it was a miracle this summer that irrigators weren’t too short on water.
The golf course had a dry year and conditions were tough at the course.
Dixon said after the re-design of the concrete is approved, pours for the concrete will continue all during the winter.
One sign of progress on the dam site is the putting down of rock on the dam. One day there was an accident onsite where a water truck tank tipped over, but didn’t tip the truck cab over.
Dixon said there is constant monitoring of the fill dirt and materials going into the berm and embankment. Tests measure density and moisture to make sure the materials are compacting properly. The dam will be four feet higher than it is now upon completion. Currently there are approximately 27 employees working two shifts. This may change as winter weather approaches and the earth work stops for the winter.
For now the Millsite Dam rehabilitation project continues to rise one layer at a time and water users are hoping for a good winter to replenish the dwindling water supplies at Millsite Reservoir.