Working quickly to install new instrumentation that bolsters real time data on dam stability
In early 2012, the US Army Corps of Engineers executed construction contracts to build a 350 foot tall cut off wall through the earthen embankment at Center Hill Dam. The work would address seepage concerns through the underlying foundation bedrock and abutment. They needed additional real time data to monitor the stability of the embankment during construction.
Stantec geotechnical engineers designed and installed a new Automated Data Acquisition System (ADAS) to collect and transmit pore pressure/water level data. The work was complex. First a new instrumentation system: nine borings and 31 vibrating wire piezometers on the main embankment, one boring and an open standpipe piezometer on the left rim. Then electronically link the real time data streaming from the new system and two older systems inside a central processing unit to form a continuous, comprehensive picture.
We estimated the complex work would take 7-8 months. USACE had contractors scheduled. Could we do it in four? Meeting this deadline was challenging—the team worked long hours—on the last week of fieldwork, 15 people worked almost non-stop. And once again, Stantec delivered.
At a Glance
Be responsive to the call and challenge yourself to make a difference—to both your clients and the community you live in.
Ben Halada, Engineer, Geotechnical Engineering
My passion is to lead geotechnical explorations and accurate instrumentation installation so analyses are always based on solid data.
April Welshans, Principal
I enjoy geotech because it gives you the ability to think for yourself—there isn’t a cookbook, so you really have to make it your own.
Tony Speer, HSSE Advisor
Helping people work safer by encouraging safety awareness and demonstrating an intentional concern for the safety of others in their work.
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