News Releases
San Diego County Water Authority
News Release: February 11, 2005 |
Contact:
John Liarakos
Office (858) 522-6703
Mobile (858) 761-2544 |
or
Donna Nenow
Office (858) 522-6707
Mobile (858) 414-8168 |
Water Authority project selected as 2005 ASCE international award finalist
Olivenhain Dam and Reservoir one of five merit award recipients worldwide
The San Diego County Water Authority’s Olivenhain Dam and Reservoir project
has been selected one of five merit finalists in the worldwide 2005 Outstanding
Civil Engineering Achievement competition by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Established in 1960, the OCEA award honors the projects that best illustrate
superior civil engineering skills and represent a significant contribution to
civil engineering progress and society.
“We are thrilled to be selected as a finalist in this prestigious ASCE
international awards program,” said Jerry Reed, principal engineer and
Olivenhain Dam project manager. “The Olivenhain Dam is a critical component
of the Water Authority’s emergency storage program to provide water to
our region during times of water supply interruption.”
"There were a number of very strong projects submitted... and the jury
found the discussion of these projects most absorbing" said Anne Powell,
OCEA jury chairwoman in her notification letter to the Water Authority. “The
Olivenhain Dam and Reservoir project is indeed an outstanding effort, and all
who worked on this project have every reason to be proud of this endeavor.”
The other 2005 OCEA merit award winners and finalists include: the Time Warner
Center in New York City; the AirTrain JFK Light Rails System in Jamaica, New
York; the Mubarak Pumping Station in Toshka, Egypt and the Rion-Antirion Bridge
in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece.
The jury has determined the winner of its 2005 OCEA top award, which will be
announced April 13, 2005 at the ASCE's Outstanding Projects and Leaders awards
gala in Vienna, Virginia. ASCE has recognized the Olivenhain Dam project at
both the local and state level as its outstanding engineering project of the
year.
The dam and reservoir form the cornerstone of the Water Authority's Emergency
Storage Project. The ESP will eventually provide over 90,000 acre-feet of water
storage for use if an earthquake severs any one of the region's five pipelines
that move imported water from Riverside County to San Diego County.
The dam was designed and constructed to withstand a major earthquake and remain
completely functional. It is the largest roller-compacted concrete dam in the
United States and the first RCC dam in California. The reservoir holds 24,000
acre-feet of water, with 18,000 acre feet stored for emergency purposes. The
Olivenhain Municipal Water District will use the remaining water for daily use
by its customers.
The dam is nearly 320 feet tall and 2,570 feet long. RCC was placed at world
record rates, as much as 16,000 cubic yards per day, in round-the-clock construction.
More than 1.4 million cubic yards of RCC are in the dam.
Olivenhain Dam and Reservoir Facts:
- Height: 318 feet
- Length: 2,552 feet
- 1.4 million cubic yards of roller-compacted concrete
- Cost: $200 million
- Storage capacity: 24,000 acre-feet
- Surface area: 200 acres
The San Diego County Water Authority is a public agency serving the San Diego
region as a wholesale supplier of water from the Colorado River and Northern
California. The Water Authority works through its 23 member agencies to provide
a safe, reliable water supply to support the region’s $142 billion economy
and the quality of life of 3 million residents.
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