
May 15, 1998

WACA Award: Public Works

Journal staff

After being moved from the Cast-in-Place Structures category, the Mud Mountain Dam project bested three other competitors in the Public Works category. The competition included: the River Road generating plant, the McNary Dam fishway hydroelectric project and the Scenic Heights pump station and watermain improvements project.

Mud Mountain Dam

Mud Mountain Dam was the winner of the Public Works category.

The project at Mud Mountain Dam involved replacement of the facility's intake structure. The project shows how cast-in-place concrete can aid construction in a relatively inaccessible location while meeting the requirements of the engineering design and, at the same time, produce a structure with artistic simplicity.

The new intake for the dam was built in steep terrain along the edge of the White River. The location made the site relatively difficult to access with heavy lifting equipment. By using cast-in-place concrete instead of heavy precast concrete or steel beams, the weight of crane picks was limited to light temporary formwork.

The runners up were the McNary Dam fishway and the River Road generating plant.

Project teams

Mud Mountain Dam intake structure replacement project: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, owner/developer and structural engineer; and Atkinson Construction, general and concrete contractor, and concrete supplier (on-site batch plant).

River Road generating plant: Clark Public Utilities, owner/developer; Burns & Roe Co., structural engineer and architect; J.A. Jones Construction, general and concrete contractor; and Aphis Ready Mix, concrete supplier.

McNary Dam

McNary Dam

McNary Dam fishway hydroelectric project: North Wasco County PUD, owner/developer; Harza Engineering Co., structural engineer; Atkinson Construction, general and concrete contractor; and Acme Materials & Concrete, concrete supplier.

Scenic Heights pump station and watermain improvements: Seattle Public Utilities, owner/developer; Gary Merlino Construction, general and concrete contractor; Susan Black & Associates, architect; and Stoneway Concrete, concrete supplier.