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June 27, 2017

Engineers use replica of big California dam to decide how best to fix cracked spillway

  • The proposed $300 million reconstruction is set to be done by November, when water levels above the dam will start to rise again.
  • By BRADY McCOMBS
    Associated Press

    YAP Photo/Rick Bowmer [enlarge]
    Hydraulic engineering professor Michael Johnson checks the water flow on a replica of the Oroville Dam spillway at Utah State University’s Water Research Laboratory. Computer modeling is also used, but hydrologists say it’s no replacement for dam replica research.

    LOGAN, Utah — Inside a cavernous northern Utah warehouse, hydraulic engineers send water rushing down a replica of a dam built out of wood, concrete and steel — trying to pinpoint what repairs will work best at the tallest dam in the U.S for a spillway torn apart in February during heavy rains that triggered the evacuation of 200,000 people living downstream.


     
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