UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUREAU OF RECLAMATION REGION 4 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
May 29, 1958
FACT SHEET ON PRIME CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF FLAMING GORGE DAM
GENERAL INFORMATION
Bids will be received by the Bureau of Reclamation on June 10 for the construction of the Flaming Gorge Dam and Powerhouse on the
Green River in the northeast corner of Utah. Project Construction
Engineer Jean R. Walton will open the bids at 2:30 p. m. on June 10 at the Manila High School building in 1vianila, Utah, the town nearest to the damsite.
Flaming Gorge Darn will be the 7th highest concrete dam in the
United States and create a reservoir which will rank 14th in size. The dam will rise about 490 feet above bedrock, and its gracefully curved crest will extend for 1180 feet across the canyon of the Green River.
Flaming Gorge Dam will create the first storage reservoir
on the Green River to provide control and regulation of river flows.
fhe Flaming Gorge Storage Unit is one of the four units pres1:::ntly authorized for construction. The Glen Canyon Storage Unit
on the Colorado River is now under construction and about 15 percent
con1ph:teJ. Bils will be opened on June 19 at Farmington, New Mexico,
ior co'l'l.&truction of Navajo Dam on the San Juan River. The fourth storage unit, the Curecanti Unit on the Gunnison River is western
Colorado, is in the final stages of study required before construction can be undertaken.
Nearly 1 million cubic yards of concrete will be placed in
Flaming Gorge Dam, Powerhouse, and other related features.
Five of the six dams which are higher than Flaming Gorge
Dam were built by the Bureau of Reclamation. Included are such giants as Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in the State of Washington,
Hoover Dam on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and Nevada, Glen
Canyon Dam which is now under construction on the Colorado River in
Arizona, and Shasta Dam on the Sacramento River in California.
The Flaming Gorge Reservoir will extend 91 miles upstream nearly to the town of Green River, Wyoming, and will store about
3, 800, 000 acre-feet of water. The flows of the Green River, a major tributary of the Colorado River, will be regulated by Flaming Gorge
Dam.
The powerplant at the toe of the dam will accommodate three generators of 36, 000 kilowatts installed capacity each. The total capa city of the powerplant, when all three generators are installed, will be
108, 000 kilowatts.
Headquarters for the construction of Flaming Gorge Dam are located at Dutch John, Utah--the state's newest permanent town now being constructed about 2 miles from the damsite. Housing, shopping
z facilities, schools, and the like will be provided at Dutch John for contractors' and Government forces.
Five years will be allowed for the completion of work under the prime contract.
LOCATION OF FLAMING GORGE DAM (See attached map)
Flaming Gorge Dam is located on the Green River where it has cut the deep and beautiful ·' Red Canyon" in the north flanks of the
Uinta Mountains. The Ashley National Forest surrounds the damsite and borders the lower ZS miles of the reservoir area. Cold, mountain trout streams and abundant wildlife are found in the open forested
country of the dam and reservoir area.
Located in the extreme northeast part of Utah, the Flaming
Gorge dam site is just 6 miles south of the Wyoming State line and 20
miles west of the Colorado State line.
Green River and Rock Springs, Wyoming, on U.S. Highway
30 and Vernal, Utah, on U.S. Highway 40 are the cities nearest to the
damsite. The nearest railroad to the Flaming Gorge dam site is at
Green River, Wyoming, a distance of about 60 miles.
An existing paved highway (Wyoming State Highway 530)
extends 43 miles south from Green River to Linwood, Utah. The Bureau of Reclamation is building a temporary access road for about 15 miles from Linwood to Dutch John. This access road is nearly completed and will be surfaced this year. The temporary timber bridge on the
3 access road which crosses the Green River east of Linwood and a section of this road will be flooded when the Flaming Gorge Reservoir fills.
A:n. improved road and Forest Service highway extends 30 miles north from Vernal, Utah, nearly to what is known as Greendale
Junction. The State of Utah opened bids on May Z7 for the first 2-1/ 2- mile section of a 7-mile link from Greendale to the damsite.
Dutch John, the town at the damsite, is now under construc tion. Temporary offices, warehouses, garages, and a four-room school are completed or nearing completion. Work is proceeding on the construction of 50 permanent and temporary houses for Bureau of Reclamation employees. The construction of streets and utilities is on schedule. On May 15, the office of the Flaming Gorge Storage
Unit moved from its temporary location at Vernal to Dutch John.
WORK UNDER THE PRIME CONTRACT
The prime contract calls for building the Flaming Gorge
Dam and Powerhouse. The Bureau of Reclamation issued the invita tion for bids on April 22 for opening on June 10. It is expected that the contract will be awarded before June 30.
The contract between the Bureau of Reclamation and a construction company or combination of companies will call for the following work to be done :
1. Construct an arch-type concrete dam about 490 feet high and 1180 feet long at the crest.
4 2. Excavate and concrete line a diversion tunnel about 1100 feet long to carry the Green River around the damsite during construc tion.
3. Build the spillway-intake structure and the concrete-lined spillway tunnel.
4. Construct the powerhouse of reinforced concrete and steel to accommodate three generating units.
5. Build the necessary roads to the damsite proper.
Under the contract, the successful bidder will be required to excavate a total of 39 3, 000 cubic yards of earth and rock for the dam and related works (not including roads from Dutch John to the damsite); and to place 922, 000 cubic yards of concrete in the dam proper, and another 44, 000 cubic yards in related works. Aggregate for the concrete will be obtained by the contractor from gravel deposits along Henrys
Fork of the Green River near Linwood, Utah. The contractor will supply about 615,000 barrels (116,000 tons) of cement and 42,000 tons of pozzolan for the 966, 000 cubic yards of concrete required.
Large quantities of steel will be used in building Flaming
Gorge Dam; the largest quantities are 2200 tons of reinforcing bars,
425 tons of structural steel in the powerhouse, and 395 tons of struc tural steel as tunnel supports.
5 ..
CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS AT FLAMING GORGE DAMS!TE
1. Temporary access road -- First 7. 6 miles.
Wangsgaard Construction Co., Logan, Utah -- $143,912
Completed May 14, 1957. To be hard surfaced under the prime contract.
z. Temporary access road -- Second 7. 8 miles !2., reach Dutch John, Utah.
Wangsgaard Construction Co. , Logan. Utah -- $504, 642
Scheduled completion June 1958, including hard surfacing.
3. ~ John, Utah -- Streets, utilities, and 50 residences.
Witt Construction Co., Provo, Utah -- $2, 152,956
Scheduled completion February 1959.
4. Dutch John, Utah -- Temporary office~ warehouse buildings.
Bethers and Stoker, Salt Lake City, Utah -- $47, 028
Completed April 1958.
5. Dutch John, ~ -- Prefabricated metal garages.
Dean R. Mayberry, Ogden, Utah -- $59, 793
Comple~ed January 1958.
6. Electric Power -- ~~during construction of Flaming Gorge Dam-- and Powerplant. Moon Lake Electric Association -- $1,213,800
Service to begin December 1958. DETAILED STATISTICS ON FLAMING GORGE DAM
SIZE:
Height. 490 feet above bedrock 450 feet above downstream river level
Crest Length. 1180 feet on the arc of the crest
Crest Width. (width of roadway). Z1 feet
Crest Elevation. 6, 047 feet. --Base Width. About 150 feet. Volume of Concrete. 966, 000 cubic yards in dam and related works; 9ZZ,OOO cubic yards in dam only.
RESERVOIR:
Capacity. 3, 800, 000 acre-feet. 14th in size in the United States.
Area. 66 square miles.
Length. 91 miles, or nearly to Green River, Wyoming.
Maximum normal water surface elevation. 6, 040 feet.
POW ERP LANT:
Generators. 3 units Installed capacity of each - 36, 000 kilowatts
Turbines. 3 of 50, 000 horsepower each.
Total Capacity «2f_Powerplant. 108, 000 kilowatts.
DIVERSION TUNNEL (one tunnel through right abutment):
Inside diameter. 23 feet, concrete lined.
Length. About 1100 feet.
EXCAVATION: Cubic yards Dam and powe rplant , 296,000 Related works {not roads) · 96,790 Total ...... 392,790