Bids due soon on reservoir work

ALTAMONT, Duchesne County — The biggest portion of the Big Sandwash enlargement project will begin soon with the opening of bids for the actual enlargement of the reservoir from 12,000 acre-feet to 24,000 acre-feet.

Eleven companies have pre-qualified for the job, but it's unknown how many of them will submit bids by the Jan. 21 deadline.

The enlargement project will take about two years to complete, depending on whether it involves clay core or slurry wall.

"It went out with two options. One is to do a clay core, which basically has a large clay wall inside it," said Randy Crozier of the Duchesne County Water Conservancy District. "This option would remove most of the existing dam and then rebuild it from the base up.

"The other is to do a concrete slurry wall with a plastic-type cement, which is a wall that is basically from two to three feet wide. This wall would cut completely through the existing dam and then down into bedrock below the base and sides of the dam."

The first portion of the project is nearing completion. It included a diversion structure and pipeline to deliver water from the Lake Fork River into the reservoir. The diversion structure, similar to a small dam, has the ability to divert river flows year round from the Lake Fork River into an adjoining pipeline.

The pipeline begins west and south of Altamont, south of where the road crosses the Lake Fork. From that point, it will run southeast down the canyon for about two miles, pushing water up over a hill and then traveling east for another two miles to Sandwash Reservoir.

The pipeline starts out at 6,061 feet above sea level and falls to below 5,900 feet. At that point it jumps back up to 5,998 feet above sea level, drops down to 5,870, then discharges into the existing C canal channel at 5,934 feet above sea level.

Funding for the project is expected to be authorized through the Central Utah Project Completion. Other projects included in the dam's $50 million price tag include a secondary water pipeline into Roosevelt, and the stabilization of the high mountain lakes in the Yellowstone and Lake Fork river drainages.

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