The San Vicente Dam is a
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
gravity dam
A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by using only the weight of the material and its resistance against the foundation to oppose the horizontal pressure of water pushing against it. ...
on
San Vicente Creek near
Lakeside
Lakeside or Lake Side may refer to:
Places Australia
* Lakeside College, Pakenham, Victoria
* Lakeside Joondalup Shopping City, Joondalup, Western Australia
* Lakeside, near Reservoir, Victoria
* Lakeside International Raceway, Pine Rivers, Quee ...
and 25 km (15.5 mi) northeast of
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. The dam was built between 1941 and 1943 and created
San Vicente Reservoir for the purpose of
municipal water storage,
flood control
Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...
and
recreation
Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasur ...
. Although the reservoir is fed by
run-off, its main source is the
First San Diego Aqueduct. In June 2009, construction to raise the height of the dam by , in order to more than double its reservoir size, commenced. It is the largest dam raise in the United States and largest
roller-compacted concrete
Roller-compacted concrete (RCC) or rolled concrete (rollcrete) is a special blend of concrete that has essentially the same ingredients as conventional concrete but in different ratios, and increasingly with partial substitution of fly ash for Po ...
dam raise in the world.
The dam raise project was originally set for the end of 2012,
but was completed in early 2014.
Efforts to replace the water supply pipelines and prepare the reservoir for the public will be underway until 2015–2017.
History
In the late 19th century, San Diego began constructing dams to help supply
municipal water, mitigate
drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
and control floods in the
San Diego River Basin. In 1928, the
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California was created and charged with transferring water from the
Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...
to southern California but San Diego was excluded from the project. Construction of the Colorado River Aqueduct had begun in 1933 and was completed in 1941. However, construction on the San Vicente Dam began in 1941 with anticipation of San Diego receiving water through the
Colorado River Aqueduct.
San Diego residents had initially rejected proposals to build the San Vicente Dam in 1939 but after the realization of the city's growing population, voters quickly approved funding for the San Vicente Dam in 1940.
Construction on the dam included pouring concrete into blocks measuring and incorporating a wide uncontrolled ogee-type
spillway on the dam's downstream face. The
outlet works, which release water for municipal use, connected the reservoir intake on the upstream side of the crest with San Vicente Pipelines 1 and 2 via three cast-iron pipes in diameter.
In 1944, the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) was formed and would soon begin construction on an aqueduct from the Colorado River Aqueduct called the
San Diego Aqueduct
The San Diego Aqueduct, or San Diego Project, is a system of four aqueducts in the U.S. state of California, supplying about 70 percent of the water supply for the city of San Diego. The system comprises the First and Second San Diego Aqueducts, ...
to supply projected future water needs. Construction on the San Vicente Dam was completed in 1943 but construction on the
First San Diego Aqueduct, which was supplied by the Colorado River Aqueduct, did not begin until 1945. It was not until 1947 that the First Aqueduct was complete and the San Vicente Reservoir began to receive its water.
Dam raising
As part of the SDCWA's $1 billion Emergency Storage Project which began in 2000, the San Vicente Dam Raise increased the height of the dam by to . This in turn will more than double the reservoir's original capacity of by increasing it to a total of . The original designers had predicted that raising the dam would be necessary in the future and positioned the dam in such a way that its height could be increased by as much as 120 ft along with ensuring its
grout curtain
A grout curtain is a barrier that protects the foundation of a dam from seepage and can be made during initial construction or during repair. Additionally, they can be used to strengthen foundations and contain spills.
Characteristics
A grout curt ...
was extended for a larger foundation.
In 2006, the SDCWA awarded
Montgomery Watson Harza
MWH Global Inc. is a global water and natural resources firm providing technical engineering, construction services and consulting services. In 2016, MWH was acquired by Stantec Consulting Inc. The firm provided planning, design and construction ...
(MWH) with a $20.4 million contract which included developing the raised-dam's design and other engineering services during construction. Construction on the
roller-compacted concrete
Roller-compacted concrete (RCC) or rolled concrete (rollcrete) is a special blend of concrete that has essentially the same ingredients as conventional concrete but in different ratios, and increasingly with partial substitution of fly ash for Po ...
(RCC) dam raise is being managed by
Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch (BV) is the largest engineering firm in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Founded in 1915 in Kansas City, Missouri it is now headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas It is a global engineering, procurement, construction ( EPC) and c ...
and
Parsons
Parsons may refer to:
Places
In the United States:
* Parsons, Kansas, a city
* Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community
* Parsons, Tennessee, a city
* Parsons, West Virginia, a town
* Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingto ...
and was done in specific stages. The first stage began in June 2009 and consisted of preparing the dam's foundation and was completed in 2010 after which the dam raise began. The construction reached a milestone in October 2012 as the dam reached its final height of 337 feet. The new dam is 117 feet higher than the old one, the tallest dam raise in the United States. The dam raise was completed in early 2014.
The reservoir's replacement pipeline will last until 2015. The reservoir, which was closed for recreation when construction began, will reopen between 2014 and 2017 depending on when it reaches normal levels.
The San Vicente Dam Raise itself was estimated to cost $568 million
and will be complemented with a new pumping facility and the San Vicente Pipeline which will connect the San Vicente Reservoir to the
Second San Diego Aqueduct. The RCC raised-dam will be the tallest dam raise in the United States along with the tallest of its type in the world.
See also
*
List of reservoirs and dams in California
Following is a list of dams and reservoirs in California in a sortable table. There are over 1,400 named dams and 1,300 named reservoirs in the state of California.
Dams in service
:''Please add to this list from the below sources.''
Former ...
*
Lower Otay Reservoir
Lower Otay Reservoir is a reservoir in San Diego County, Southern California. It is flanked by Otay Mountain to the southeast, the Jamul Mountains to the east, Otay Lakes Road and Upper Otay Reservoir to the north, and the city of Chula Vista to ...
*
Saluda Dam
References
External links
San Diego County Water Authority – San Vicente Dam RaiseSan Diego County Water Authority – Emergency Storage Project*Live Construction Web Cams
TopsideDownstream*
{{San Diego County dams
Dams in California
Buildings and structures in San Diego County, California
Gravity dams
United States local public utility dams
Dams completed in 1943
Historic American Engineering Record in California
Roller-compacted concrete dams
1943 establishments in California