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Show Rangely to see worlds largest earth dam Gibbons and Reed is building the largest dam in the world at Rangely using us-ing the principle of reinforced earth. The $7 million Taylor Draw Dam, five miles east of Rangely on the White River, is expected to be finished by the end of the year. Ed Currier, president of Western Engineers of Grand Junction, project engineers, said the new methodwas used us-ed to reduce the cost of a relatively small reservoir on a relatively large river with an average annual flow totaling 500,000 acre-feet. The reservoir will be 13,800 acre-feet. Frank Webber, Western's on-site project pro-ject engineer, said 1,400 concrete interlocking in-terlocking panels weighing about 1 ton each and measuring 5-feet square and 7 inches thick, will be used to form a three- sided box with the open end facing downstream. The panels will be stacked vertically to heights ranging from 52 to 74 feet above the streambed. The panels will be anchored by 3-inch metal strips placed 58 feet back into the earth behind them, said Webber, who said the center-reinforced center-reinforced section of the earth-filled dam will measure 504 feet wide. A grout curtain cur-tain totaling another 350 feet is also a part of the total 1,100 foot wide dam. Webber said the panels are an integral part of the spillway system. In addition, the panels eliminate the need to slope earth on the downstream side. The Taylor Draw Reservoir will supply Rangely with the first dependable water supply in its history and will also serve for flood control and recreation uses. |
