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<br />
<br />LAWN LAKE DAM AND CASCADE LAKE DAM FAILURES, COLORADO
<br />
<br />TABLE 13.-Damage estimates for the July 15. 1982, flood
<br />(From Colorado Division of Disute!' Emergency Services Data)
<br />
<br />Breakdown
<br />
<br />Dollar eetimate
<br />
<br />Rocky Mountain National Park ------------------ $ 4,978,000
<br />Home and pereonal property --------------------- 1,569,500
<br />Business physical damage and economic injury ----- 17,180.,000
<br />Private and public utilities ---------------------- 365,000
<br />City and County public utilities ------------------ 3,335,900
<br />Federal and State fscilities ---------------------- 659,900
<br />Agriculture ___________________________________ 2,550,000
<br />
<br />Total $30,638,300
<br />
<br />$17.2 million accounted for the majority of the total
<br />damages. The flooding destroyed 18 bridges, damaged
<br />road systems (particularly Fall River Road), inundated
<br />177 businesses (75 percent of Estes Park's commercial
<br />activity), and damaged 108 private residences. Most
<br />businesses reported 3 to 4 ft of water, and as much as
<br />1 to 2 ft of mud in their establishments. The flood oc-
<br />curred during the 3 summer months when businesses
<br />depend on tourism to generate a major part of their in-
<br />come. Fortunately, the majority of businesses were able
<br />to reopen within a few days of the flood as a result of
<br />community involvement in cleanup. Other major
<br />damaged structures included Lawn Lake dam, Cascade
<br />
<br />Lake dam, campsite and trail facilities along the Roar-
<br />ing River, a U.S. Highway 34 bridge, Aspenglen Camp-
<br />ground, Estes Park powerplant, State Fish Hatchery,
<br />utility lines, and two streamflow-gaging stations (sites
<br />5 and 6 in fig. 1).
<br />Selected photographs of damages and debris are
<br />shown in figures 50, 51, 52, and 53. The Ponderosa
<br />Lodge at river mile 9.9 on the Fall River, which was
<br />reconstructed above the 500-yr flood level, was totally
<br />destroyed (fig. 51A); however, the lodge was rebuilt in
<br />the same location as shown in figure 51B. Farther
<br />downstream, damages were prevented when the flood-
<br />waters were contained in Lake Estes (fig. 54).
<br />
<br />SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
<br />
<br />Early on the morning of July 15, 1982, Lawn Lake
<br />dam, a 26-ft-high earthen dam, located at 11,000 ft in
<br />Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, failed. Full-
<br />breach development was estimated to have taken 10
<br />min. The dam released 674 acre-ft of water, and an
<br />estimated peak discharge of 18,000 ftsts down the
<br />Roaring River valley. In the Roaring River, the flood
<br />wave was described as a wall of water 25 to 30 ft high.
<br />Three people were killed, and damages totaled $31
<br />
<br />
<br />FIGURE 50.-About 0900 MDT on July 15, 1982, looking upstream at washed,out U,S. Highway 34 bridge in Rocky
<br />Mountain National Park at river mile 5.3. Photo courtesy of Zenas Blevins, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
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