OCR Text |
Show ft I dUMalld ESsism SSfl&wvcIlsiiPdl i . - Thursday, August 27, 1981 Uintah Basin Standard 13 dam may set future dam standards Roller-cret- e Although the project ii isolated in the Uinta Mountains on Rock Creek, recognition of the work, and its unique nature, have caught the eye of many people around the country. Ine Provo office of the Bureau of Reclamation recently announced it expects construction of the test section on the Upper Stillwater Dam, which has drawn worldwide attention because of its modern technology to be completed this week. Wejiave had visitors from all over Utah, the western United States, and as far away as England to watch us build this test section,'' Bill White, construction engineer, Uintah Basin Construction office said. The Upper state-of-the-a- rt Stillwater Reservoir will be located about 30 miles northwest of Duchesne, and is a part of the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project. The section being constructed is a roller compacted concrete (RCC) design. If it proves to be feasible for the construction of the Upper Stillwater Dam scheduled for 1985, it would mean Upper Stillwater would be the first RCC dam built by the Bureau in its history, and, the first RCC dam in the world ever built for water storage. The RCC can be an economical alternative when compared to traditional designs," according to White. Roller-cret- e is less expensive in that it substitutes pozzolan for a significant proportion of the tremendous amount of cement necessary to build moat dams. Posaolan, or fly ash, is an industrial of coal-fire- d In the past, power power plants. plants have had to dispose of flyash as a waste product. A result from the construction of the test section will be to determine how much flyash can be substituted in place of cement. "The more pozzolan we can use to build tne Upper Stillwater Dam, the less expensive the dam will be," said Tom Strickland, Bureau materials expert. "We started at about 50 percent flyash and 50 percent cement, but recent RCC design tests from Great Britain indicate we might be able to get a mixture with as high as 80 percent flyash," Strickland added. The BOR is also using laser technology in building the test section. Laser beams are used to align and guide the pouring and laying of materials, which will speed up the process. It also appears to be a more efficient and precise construction method. "This is a new technology," another Bureau official commented, "but we are very happy with the test results we have seen thus far." The Upper Stillwater Reservoir is scheduled for completion in 1986, and will have a capacity of 33,000 acre-fewhich will feed through the collection system into the Strawberry Reservoir for use along the Wasatch Front. The sam will require 84,800 cubic yards of facing material and 1,160,000 cubic yards of RCC material. The dam haaa maxunum base width--- 1 oi leei, aimougn n is oniy 10 leei wide at the crest, with a length of 2,665 feet at the crest. -- ct it may not be the conventional method, but it is hoped that this Roller-cret- e construction will save the Bureau of Reclamation a great deal of BUILDING A DAM? et money. The compacted cpncrete is first bat- ched and mixed nearby, then hauled to the testsite and dumped between facing elements which form the outer shell of the dam. The RCC material is then spread and compacted. ut Bonanza power plant and Deserado mine schedule August 28 groundbreaking ceremonies in Groundbreaking the adjacent states of Colorado and Utah will mark the start of construction on a $1.2 billion energy complex, Aug. 28. Officials of Deseret Generation & of Sandy, Transmission which will build a electric generating station near Bonanza, Utah; and Western Fuels-UtaInc., which will construct and operate a coal mine northeast of Rangely, Colo., to supply coal to the power plant, have announced the schedule for the twin ceremonies. Groundbreaking program for the mine is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at the "D Portal", the first of two portals to serve the mine. A ceremony will also be held at the power plant site near Bonanza at 8:30 p.ra., formalizing site preparation work which has been h, the underway for several weeks-sin- ce Rural Electrification Administration (REA) approved the Environmental Impact Statement July 13. The cost of the first 400,000 kilowatt generating unit at the Bonanza plant, together with transmission power lines, will cost near $900 million. The mine and rail facilities will add another $300 million to the project, cost. Participants in the two programs next week will represent entities in the states of Color sdo, UUh, Wyoming and Nevada, as well as Federal agencies. The project is located in the (oil, gas, oil shale, and energy-ric- h coal) area of Colorado and Utah, which extends into Wyoming. The coal mine is in Rio Blanco County; the long electrified railroad to transport the coal from the mine to the generating station extends north into 85-mi- Moffett County, then into Utah; the power plant is to be in Uintah County, Utah, and the construction project offices are in Vernal. Cooperative members of Deseret GAT are located throughout Utah, and extend into Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming, and Arizona. A representative of REA has been invited to speak at both ceremonies, according to Ken Holum, General Manager of Western Fuels Association and its subsidiary. Western Fuels Utah. Governors Richard D. Lamm of Colorado and Scott M. Matheson of Utah, have also been invited. Presidents of both Western Fuels and Deseret - Everett B. Chesney, Fort Morgan, Colo., and Harry Field-sted- , Boneta, will participate at both ceremonies, as will members of the boards ot directors and general -- VISITORS to the Uintah Basin came to view methods used in the local salinity program. The gentlemen visited various parts of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, CHINESE and California to obtain information which wi aid them with their 7.5 million acre salinity project, PREPAIRING HOMELAND PLAN Chinese research team studies Basin salinity The People's Republic of China may be a long ways from the Uintah Basin, and it may seem that we don't have much in common with them. This however, is not the case. Last week a group of six men from the China Saline and Alkali Soils Reclamation, Technology and Management Study Team visited the Uintah Basin to examine the Soil Conservation Service's salinity project. According to Ding-la- i Tao, President of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Engineering Research and Planning, their country is planning to undertake a salinity program in the northern part of China. The team leader said they have been looking at salinity programs and methods being used in California, Arizona, Colorado and Utah. Tao said Iheir plans will eventually cover three hectares, or approximately 7.5 million acres. said "China is very agricultural, Tao, "and we have a severe salinitv of both organizations. managers Merrill Millett is Deseret's general manager. The Deserado Mine groundbreaking site will be open from 9:30 a.m. until conclusion of the ceremony. Orientation will be available for early arrivals before the program starts at 10:30. The site can be reached by driving east from Rangely on State Route 64 to the bridge over the White River, turn left (north) and cross the bridge, proceeding on the county road. Signs will direct visitors to the site. Similarly, the Bonanza site will be open at 2:30 p.m., an hour before the formal ceremony, for orientation of early arrivals. From Vernal, the site can be reached by going east on U.S. 40 to Jensen, cross the Green River bridge, and turn right (south) towards Red Wash. Signs will direct the traffic from that point over about 17 miles of paved road and 10 miles of dirt road to the plant site. To reach the plant site from Rangely, go northwest on State 64 toward the town of Dinosaur, turning off to the west to Bonanza about half way to Dinosaur. From Bonanza, go northwest on Utah 45 about four miles, then left on an unpaved road about five miles to the site. Continued on page 14 problem in the northern part of our country." In an effort to develop a workable solution, the group is travelling with James R. Fisher, the Deputy State Conservationist with the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) in Denver. Accompanying the group in Utah was Dr. Hutchinson, a State Soil Scientist. Along with visiting the various projects, the group has travelled to several universities where work is being done on salinity. "It has been very helpful," said Tao. Tao said the group will be starting their project this fall with an area of 320,000 hectares, or 790,400 acres. He said their project will begin with the area along the coast because it is more easily drained. Tao added that their trip to the Uintah Basin was very informative because there are many similarities between Northern China and the Uintah Basin. They are trying to solve the problems of water management," said Mr. Fisher. He said that this is one of their goals because when the soil is it not only wastes water, but water goes to lower levels and causes salt to rise to the surface. "We probably have a lot to learn from China, said Fisher. "They have been farming their land for over 8,000 years and haven't used it up. We have been farming ours for about 100 years and have almost used it up." Tao said their trip to the United States has been very enjoyable and that they have been very kindly received." The other members of the group are Huanbin Chen, the Deputy Director of the Planning Bureau, State Commission of Agriculture; Jingyao Yang, Deputy Director, Land UtilizatioiT Bureau; Ronghan Huang, Senior Research Academy of Engineer, Water Conservancy; Uqun Wang, Deputy Chief, Economic Research Division; and Yugi Hu, Hydraulic Engineer, Farm Irrigation Institute. He was also the interpreter for the group. over-watere- d Energy audit saves money for business Businesses in the Roosevelt area could save as much as 20 percent of their energy costs every year if their owners or managers attend the Roosevelt Area Chamber of Commerce meeting Thursday, Sept. 3. There is a free, easy way to become more knowledgeable about your own energy use," Dr. Richard Turley wrote in a letter to Roosevelt's energy coordinator, Joel Hatch. Turley, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering of the University of Utah, will speak at the Chamber meeting. "It invites a simple energy audit of your facility. It requires very little time and will tell you almost everything you need to know in order to save energy dollars. The audits are part of a Building Conservation Program being conducted by the University. The energy saving methods to be discussed at the meeting are "more for businesses than the home owner, explained Hatch. "Businesses have problems that are unique. The energy audit will compare local businesses with others of similar size and function, and will provide the businesses with bar charts showing how they rate in comparision to others as far as energy use goes. "It's simple," Hatch said. "Businesses can do it themselves because the only information they need is the square footage of their building and the appliances they use. Interested businesses need not present that information at the Chamber meeting, however. The information will be sent to the University of Utah for evaluation. "If they're using a lot more than a similar business, it shows there is something they could do to save money, Hatch added. Turley further explained in his letter that if the comparison shows the business is a high energy user, the program will follow up with a diagnostic survey. "This diagnostic survey will help you determine the ways in which you can reduce your energy usage and your energy bills," he said. "If, after the diagnostic survey is completed, your energy problems still cannot be pinpointed, we will be glad audit of to provide a your building," Turley continued. "The qualified energy analyst who conducts will describe for you this or low-comaintenance and operation procedures you can implement to curb energy waste. The audits are designed specifically for restaurants, churches, office buildings and retail operations. The Chamber of Commerce meeting will be held Thursday, Sept. 3, at 7:30 a.m. Everyone interested is invited to attend, and they need not be Chamber members. walk-throug- h walk-throug- h no-co- st District buys new computer This is the era of the computer and Duchesne School Board has decided to purchase a new computer to replace their present system. District Phil Thompson said a Data point 1816 Computer System has been ordered to replace the 2200 system because the present computers service contract expires in September of 1982. A service contract enables the District to pay a set amount to the company for mainten the Clerk-Treasur- ance of the entire computer system. Thompson said the District has been paying $441 a month to maintain the present system. He said the new system will cost $200 or less a month to maintain. "We just thought it was a feasible thing to do," said Thompson. The new system, over the next five-yeperiod, will not cost the vine in mainten-Continue- d District Jbecause on page 1 4 |