It\u2019s a busy 24-hour, six-day a week operation near the Folsom Dam site, all of it with the goal to shield Sacramento from the worst that rainy weather might do.<\/p>\n
FOX40\u2032s cameras were the first to get into the construction pit for the dam\u2019s auxiliary spillway since this first spillway gate arrived close to 11 p.m. on March 13.<\/p>\n
That massive piece of equipment and the 12 other gates for the structure will have been driven 600 miles before they make it to their destination.<\/p>\n
From the foundation to top of the control structure is about the same height as the Statue of Liberty.<\/p>\n
Each bay will be able to funnel 55,000 cubic feet of water per second.<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s next for the very first gate to get on site?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe roller housing, eight of of them, go on each side of the bulkhead gate and that basically goes down into the slot so it rolls up with the hoist mechanism at the top,\u201d senior project manager Katie Huff said.<\/p>\n
A crane even taller than the structure will slide that bulkhead into place in one of six bays at the spillway.<\/p>\n
The room for error for this construction element is only a 16th of an inch on each side of its designated slot.<\/p>\n
The straight bulkheads for this $900 million project will work in harmony with curved tainter to evenly regulate what could be the fateful force of a flood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese gates are 50-foot lower in elevation so in that flood event we\u2019ll be able to release water much sooner and safer so that the levies downstream are able to handle it without flooding out Sacramento,\u201d said Huff.<\/p>\n
Part of the ground now up on top of the construction site, almost level with Folsom Lake Crossing, will actually start disappearing in July.<\/p>\n
More at Fox40.com<\/a> >>><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s a busy 24-hour, six-day a week operation near the Folsom Dam site, all of it with the goal to shield Sacramento from the worst that rainy weather might do. FOX40\u2032s cameras were the first to get into the construction pit for the dam\u2019s auxiliary spillway since this first spillway gate arrived close to 11 … Continue reading A Look Inside $900 Million Folsom Dam Auxilliary Spillway Project<\/span>