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<br />McPhee Dam <br /> <br />P6q. 10 Th DoIor_ Sto,., Tha,ooUY. Auqu.'ll 19114 <br /> <br />Dolores Project <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Silhou~lIea<llllen...d m.od\in...l\nish ofl'th~ top of tbe 4am _l1onllt .,,1oppod off <br />N"""lIIberIO,I9llJ. <br /> <br />1.o.d1ltt")0.04o!lerloacda"...P""J>eflllIU1l"''''din.IOboo1!....d....ped......tll.lK<l <br />1lled&mlOlla~DlQ)be'.ht"':r5re.'.rtShl. <br /> <br /> <br />V~blcln left theirtrocl.s III ~"""'paned din as the dam ...ll.Ued Ia. <br /> <br />When the time came to start building up the dam, the <br />trucks rolled in to fill and compact the dirt. The dam started <br />rising, slowly al first where the base was 1,400 feet thick. <br />The height achieved eadl day became greater and greater <br />a5 the dam started tapering off to a final thickness of only 30 <br />feet at the top, The dam towers 275 teet high and stretches <br />1300 feet across the canyon <br /> <br />The dam is a rolled earth. sand, gravel and rock fill structure <br />with a volume of about 5.029,OCOcubicyards. <br /> <br />The dam's center is a 300-foot wide day core that had to <br />be just the right moisture and compacted prope.rly. <br />Surrounding it in a pyramid shape is sand, srave!, small <br />rocks and dirt in precise prolXlrtions to make the dam able to <br />withstand the larsest flood likely to occur in 1,OCO years. <br />What water does leak through the clay core will be drained <br />off through a filter, which kl'eps the downstream earthfill <br />dry. Riprap on the upstream side of the dam will lessen <br />damage caused by wave action. Crouting in holes as deep as <br />250 feet at the dam base and sides added to the stability of <br />the finished dam. InstrumE'nts will aid in detecting moisture <br />and movement of thE' dam. <br />Controlled filling of McPht>e Reservoir began March 19, <br />1984, and the reservoir is E'.pected to complete filling in <br />1986 or 1987, dE'pending on snow melt. WhE'n full, it will <br />hold 381,OCO acre-feet of water and will extend 10 miles up <br />the Dolores River, 4 miles up Beaver Creek, 1 mile up Dry <br />Creek, 2 miles up House Creek and 2 mifes up the Creat Cut <br />Saddle to the dike. <br />