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 Page 8 Upper and Lower Emerald Valley Dam Failure Report <br /> January 23, 2015 <br /> <br /> <br />5.0 Post Failure Field Investigation(s) <br /> <br />Site Visit #1 – Reconnaissance – 16 SEP 2013 <br />This office made a reconnaissance of the South Slopes of Pikes Peak via off road motorcycle <br />on 16 SEP 2013 to assess conditions of dams in the area and to observe conditions at Emerald <br />Valley Ranch. Two members of Colorado Springs Utilities accompanied this office on the <br />entire reconnaissance, mounted on all terrain vehicles. The main purpose of this visit was <br />to document conditions of the breach and the dams for forensic purposes and to ensure <br />the dam was in a safe condition. Photographs and field notes are included in Appendix A. <br /> <br />Site Visit #2 – Interview & Survey – 25 SEP 2013 <br />As the immediate emergency regional response effort slowed a crew of two DSEs returned to <br />the site to perform a detailed survey of the dam and talk to eyewitnesses. Table 1 shows <br />results from our level survey of the dam, breach, and spillway. Figure 4 shows a profile of our <br />survey. Photographs in Appendix A illustrate conditions encountered during the investigation. <br />We made the following visual classifications of soils in the right breach side slope (see Photo 4 <br />for soil profile of breach): <br /> <br />6.0 Eyewitness Accounts <br />DSB staff attempted to interview individuals with firsthand knowledge after the dam <br />failures. The following table summarizes eyewitness accounts obtained by the DSB. <br /> <br />Table 3: Summary of Eyewitness Accounts <br />Name/ <br />Responsibility <br />Date Account <br />Was made to DSB <br />Eyewitness Account <br />Fred Dickman (FD), <br />Broadmoor <br />Facilities Manager <br />25 SEP 2013 Timeline of Events: <br /> 11 SEP 2013, reports of heavy rain. <br /> 12 SEP 2013, FD visits site to check on <br />guests at cabins in “early morning”. <br /> Observed reservoir levels had been higher <br />overnight based on evidence of debris on <br />dams. <br /> FD removed some debris from CMP culvert <br />principal and emergency spillways, but <br />were flowing full. <br /> 12 SEP 2013, 1000: FD observes rain begins <br />to increase. <br /> 12 SEP 2013, 1100: LEV reservoir rising, FD <br />removes more debris from principal spillway <br />at left abutment and right CMP emergency <br />spillway. <br /> 12 SEP 2013, 1130 to 1200: Lower Emerald <br />Valley (LEV) Dam begins to overtop and <br />fails. <br /> 12 SEP 2013, 1300: Upper Emerald Valley <br />(UEV) Dam fails. <br />Ron Woolsey 13 SEP 2013  Based on initial discussions with <br />representatives of City of Fountain, Keeton <br />Dam was performing well, the spillway was <br />flowing, but the residential access bridge <br />located downstream of the spillway was <br />unusable.