News Releases
San Diego County Water Authority
News Release: April 15, 2005 |
Contact:
John Liarakos
Office (858) 522-6703
Mobile (858) 761-2544 |
or
Donna Nenow
Office (858) 522-6707
Mobile (858) 414-8168 |
Olivenhain Dam and Reservoir recipient of two engineering awards
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Assignment Editors and Reporters:
Editors & Reporters Note: For a virtual tour of the dam project
please click here: Olivenhain
Dam Tour
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Olivenhain Dam and Reservoir, a joint project of the San Diego County Water
Authority and the Olivenhain Municipal Water District received two engineering
awards in April. The American Society of Civil Engineers honored the project
as one of four international merit award recipients in the 2005 Outstanding
Civil Engineering Achievement awards program. The project also received an honor
award for design in the American Academy of Environmental Engineers’ 2005
Excellence in Environmental Engineering awards program.
“We are honored to have this unique dam project selected for these two
prestigious awards,” said John Economides, Water Authority director of
engineering. “The Olivenhain Dam is a critical component of the Water
Authority’s Emergency Storage Project that will provide water to our region
during times of supply interruption.”
“Olivenhain Water District has achieved aqueduct independence from an
extended imported water outage through regional cooperation; thereby saving
our customers substantial money and minimizing environmental impacts,”
according to David McCollom General Manager of Olivenhain.
The ASCE awards program honors projects that best illustrate superior civil
engineering skills and represent a significant contribution to civil engineering
progress and society. The AAEE awards program recognizes the best in environmental
engineering practice and contribution to improved quality of life and economic
efficiency.
Representatives from the Water Authority and the Olivenhain MWD accepted the
award at the ASCE's Outstanding Projects and Leaders awards gala in Vienna,
Virginia, April 13. ASCE has recognized the Olivenhain Dam project at both the
local and state level as its outstanding engineering project of the year. The
representatives accepted the AAEE award at a luncheon at the National Press
Club in Washington, DC, April 14.
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 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, a partner in the project, will use the remaining water
for daily use by its customers.
The dam is nearly 320 feet tall and 2,570 feet long. Roller-compacted concrete
was placed at world record rates, as much as 16,000 cubic yards per day, in
round-the-clock construction. The dam contains more than 1.4 million cubic yards
of roller-compacted concrete.
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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