Event Date
The Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD) regulates over 1,200 jurisdictional dams in California to prevent failure, safeguard life, and protect property. This presentation focuses on DSOD’s role during the design and construction of a project to mitigate historic seepage issues at large dam in the Sierra Mountains. The dam was constructed in stages beginning in 1873 and has an approximate height and storage capacity of 140 feet and 48,000 acre-feet, respectively. The dam has a history of seepage at the downstream toe, which DSOD required the owner to address once the seepage exceeded 30 cubic feet per second. DSOD reviewed and approved the proposed design in 2021, which includes dewatering the reservoir, constructing a cofferdam, and installing a Carpi liner and grout curtain into bedrock. DSOD has conducted regular construction inspections to ensure the work is done in accordance with the approved plans and specifications. The project has finished two of three planned construction seasons.
Speaker Alex Pires-Sturm is a registered professional engineer with 6 years of experience as a design engineer at the California Division of Safety of Dams. He specializes in geotechnical engineering and has experience with seismic, hydrologic, hydraulic, and structural evaluations of dams and their appurtenant structures. Alex received his PhD in Civil Engineering from UC Davis in 2019 with research focused on gravelly soil characterization, including the development of the instrumented Becker Penetration Test (iBPT).