From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb):
Work around Pinewood Reservoir that I have been referencing in my last couple of e-mails is well underway.
Truck hauling of the box culverts we will use to replace the open Pole Hill Canal at the top of Pole Hill Road has begun. Attached to this e-mail is a re-issue of the news release announcing the truck hauling. Four to five trucks will be making trips up Pole Hill Road several times a day throughout October to deliver the box culverts.
Residents around and visitors to Rattlesnake Dam at Pinewood Reservoir will also notice we are releasing a little bit more water than normal from the dam. Normally, the dam releases about a half of a cubic foot per second. This week, we are pumping an additional 1.5 cfs of water out of the reservoir to finish the draw down to dead storage. This means the total release is near 2 cfs. Our releases run into Cottonwood Creek. The draw down is necessary to facilitate some maintenance in the Bald Mountain Pressure Tunnel which connects Pinewood Reservoir to the Flatiron Penstocks–the water pipes that carry water from Pinewood down to the Flatiron Power Plant.
Meanwhile the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District is working in the channel between Grand Lake and Shadow Mountain Reservoir on the west side of the project. Here’s a report from Tonya Bina writing for the Sky-Hi Daily News. From the article:
Built 65 years ago, the dam and bridge at the entrance to Grand Lake maintains the natural lake’s water level per federal guidelines to within 12 inches of the high water line when Shadow Mountain Reservoir, the water body connected to the lake, is lowered. According to Northern, in 1963 the dam structure located between the two bodies of water was modified to allow boats to travel from one lake to the other. Now, updates to the structure are intended to provide more safety features and operational efficiency. Other than new railings to bring the bridge up to code standards, it “won’t look very different,” said Northern spokesperson Dana Strongin.
This year’s rehabilitation project — under construction by the water-projects specialty company Garney Construction of Denver— includes dewatering about 70 feet of the channel by using a flexible membrane to control water on both sides of the bridge structure. Workers will be rehabilitating the bridge, repairing dam concrete and extending the concrete piers. According to Northern, there will also be an additional walkway along the east side of the structure upon project completion.
More Colorado-Big Thompson Project coverage here.