David Harris Engineering and Assistance, LLC

My Favorite Dams – Bar CCC, Parker, CO David W. Harris, PhD, PE, F.SEI, F.ASCE Bar CCC - Today - Ready for many more years of use Earlier I wrote about being at Hoover Dam and the interesting work that would prove to be there.   Dynamic properties of concrete, properties of aged mass concrete, and later helping set up security protocols following 911. So from a dam considered as an Engineering marvel, why a small dam (a bathtub dam) setup to contain a small holding reservoir in the Parker Water and Sanitation District? Well, from a personal level it was my first embankment dam job after I set up my consulting business.   Over 35 years with US Bureau of Reclamation, now applying the knowledge gained.   So that was important to me. For folks interested in dams, this is a good case study in aging and in good dam management. Before - Wave erosion and embankment sliding First, the aging process in embankment dams.   This is a...

Hoover Dam - Photo courtesy Bureau of Reclamation David W. Harris, PhD, PE, F.SEI, F.ASCE I remember standing at the base of Hoover Dam the mist rising from the Colorado River.   You look up, but, can’t just raise your head, you have to arch your back and lean backwards to see to the top of this massive structure, 726 feet in height.   The concrete arch curves across the canyon in a smooth graceful form.   It is hard to appreciate that Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States by volume (when it is full) (Wikipedia) is sitting calmly behind the dam, waiting patiently to pass through the dam and meander downstream on its way through Mexico and into the Gulf of California.   It’s not a small job, there are 3,250,000 cubic yards of concrete sitting there in the valley. To my left is the powerhouse sending electricity to Las Vegas about an hour’s drive away.   The bright lights fire up from the turbines spinning using the water’...