Franson Civil was hired by the Utah Division of Water Resources (Utah DWRe) to perform structural design of the spillway and design the relocation of the outlet works for the rehabilitation of the dam and spillway at Millsite Reservoir, located in Ferron, Utah. The outlet works needed to be extended further downstream to allow for the rehabilitation of the dam. All drawings and specifications were prepared to meet Utah Dam Safety and Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) standards.

There are several aspects of this elaborate and substantial multi-year project that have required excellent service. First, Franson completed the project design phase. Franson assisted with the design of the spillway and outlet works improvements and provided drafting services for the entire dam rehabilitation project. Another contribution to the project included providing expertise in specific areas and reviewing the Utah DWRe design for constructability.

Specific project features designed by Franson Civil include:

• Extending the existing outlet tunnel and the existing 54-inch main outlet pipe
• Extending all appurtenances necessary for operation of the outlet works such as electrical wiring, air vent shaft, tunnel drains, etc.
• Replacing the existing 42-inch Howell Bunger valve with a new plunger valve and the existing 8-inch culinary pipeline with a new culinary pipeline
• Relocating or replacing the connections for two 36-inch irrigation pipelines, one 12-inch stockwater pipeline, and one 24-inch industrial water supply pipeline
• Designing improvements to the state park to eliminate the impacts of the raised reservoir
• Structural design of the enlarged concrete spillway
  
  

Franson Civil has also provided full-time construction observation and management services. This large project has necessitated extensive communication and coordination between the client, the engineering team, the contractors, and other regulatory agencies. Rehabilitation construction is scheduled to conclude in mid-2022. 

Franson’s work has included:

• Providing a Resident Project Representative (RPR), to be on-site during construction, who prepares progress meeting minutes, documents construction activities daily, validates contractor pay requests, reviews submittals, observes construction activities, and maintains coordination with the Utah DWRe Project Engineer
• Allocating the necessary resources for survey validation, quality assurance testing, construction observation, and documentation
• Providing technical support for the spillway, outlet works, and state park improvements
• Maintaining the project document software including testing results, daily logs, submittals, contractor pay requests, change orders, work change directives, and the latest version of the contract documents
• Providing drafting support and record drawings