Beers Sisters Reservoir Dam Repairs - American West Construction

Beers Sisters Reservoir Dam Repairs

The Mile High Flood District (MHFD)(formerly Urban Drainage and Flood Control District) awarded American West Construction, LLC (AWC) a Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC) contract for a dam rehabilitation project at Beers Sisters Reservoir in Littleton, CO. The project stakeholder, South Suburban Parks and Recreation District, had limited funding for the project and elected to use the CM/GC process to help deliver the project on budget.

Awarded at the 30% design phase, AWC provided valuable preconstruction services through final construction drawings. During the design development, AWC provided critical cost estimating, constructability review, and value engineering to maintain the budget. On two occasions, the interim design exceeded the project budget. With AWC’s value engineering, the designer was able to modify the design to accomplish the necessary repairs. Upon completion of the design, AWC and MHFD successfully negotiated a construction contract within the project budget.

The project involved removing and replacing the existing dam’s outlet works, increasing the reservoir spillway, installing a new pedestrian bridge, and reconstructing a concrete sidewalk. The elements of the work included:

Constructing an earthen coffer dam and water control from inflows and storm events
Excavation of the dam core and removal of old outlet works
Construction of a concrete encased outlet pipe, intake structure, and energy dissipation outlet
Construction of a new overflow weir
Placement of riprap lining on the upstream side of the embankment
Construction of a new spillway channel with sheet pile cut off walls and a riffle boulder structure
Installation of a steel pedestrian bridge and replacement of concrete trail.