From the Department of the Interior, this press release:

Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today announced that the Bureau of Reclamation has awarded a $48,745,838 contract for Phase II of the Joint Federal Project at Folsom Dam and Reservoir. The award, which is the second in a series of construction contracts for a new auxiliary spillway at Folsom, went to Oregon Mt. Construction of Redding, California.

“This project significantly enhances flood control and dam safety for downstream communities, including Sacramento,\” Kempthorne said. “Because we are doing this work as a joint federal-state effort, the project creates cost efficacies that save American taxpayers a significant amount of money.

The auxiliary spillway, or Joint Federal Project, represents an unprecedented partnership among Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, and the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency. When completed, the project will address the hydrologic risk to Folsom Dam identified through Reclamation’s Safety of Dams evaluation program. Hydrologic risk refers to possible overtopping of the dams and dikes during an extreme storm event. The project also achieves the Corps’ objective of increasing flood control at Folsom.

The initiative consists of a water-side approach channel, a control structure with six submerged gates, a concrete-lined spillway chute about 3,000-feet long, and a stilling basin which acts as an energy dissipation structure prior to discharges converging with the American River below the main concrete dam. The project will be constructed in three successive phases by Reclamation and the Corps.

The Phase II contract with Oregon Mt. Construction Company includes additional spillway excavation, construction of a stilling basin coffer dam, relocation of a 42-inch water supply pipeline, and ancillary access roads. Work will begin in mid-winter 2008-2009 and will be completed in the summer of 2010. Phase III construction by the Corps will follow shortly thereafter, and the project is expected to be completed by 2015.

In addition to the Joint Federal Project, Reclamation will complete additional dam safety work on Dikes 4, 5, and 6, and the Mormon Island Auxiliary Dam. Additional information on the project is available on Reclamation’s website at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/jfp/index.html.

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Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier and the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the United States, with operations and facilities in the 17 Western States. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov.