$2.03 million contract awarded for repairs on Tuttle Creek service gate liners with BIL funding

Two service gate liners will be replaced at Tuttle Creek Dam, near Manhattan, Kansas, later this year after damage was discovered during a routine dam inspection in Oct. 2020.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District received funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, or BIL, and has awarded a $2.03 million contract for the Tuttle Creek Dam service gate repairs to Alltech.

“In October of 2020 … they found that the portion of the steel liner in the bottom of the conduit just downstream of the gates had been ripped loose,” said Katrina Marx, project manager for the Tuttle Creek Dam service gate one and two liner repairs.

The repairs will fix a steel liner downstream of service gate one and will replace the steel liner downstream of service gate two. The steel liners downstream of the service gates help protect the concrete conduit from damage during periods of high flows. Repairs on both service gates are scheduled to begin Aug. 1, 2023.

While no damage was discovered downstream of service gate two, its steel liner will be replaced as a preventative measure. Marx explained that due to the complex nature of the damage, the repairs require significant technical expertise.

“You’re under the dam, you’re hundreds of feet up in the conduit, downstream of gates that are leaking water … you’re welding in a confined space … it really is a very complex situation,” said Marx. “The contractor needs to have good technical experience.”

The repair work downstream of service gate one and service gate two at Tuttle Creek Dam will not start until later this year due to a high potential for the need to release water from the service gates between April and July. While the repairs to fix the damage downstream of service gate one, and to prevent potential damage downstream of gate two, are complex and will require technical experience, the damages were found early and there is no risk for dam failure because of the damage.

“It probably would have taken a pretty long time for this to really have been a big impact, as far as dam safety,” said Marx. “The fact that we found it in 2020 … was probably helpful in minimizing the damage that we do have to repair so the timing was [good].”

USACE inspects all dams every five years, to ensure they are operating and being maintained as required.

More information about the Kansas City District’s dam safety program can be found at:  https://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Dam-Safety-Program/

Derek Nester
Derek Nesterhttp://www.sunflowerstateradio.com
Derek Nester was born and raised in Blue Rapids and graduated from Valley Heights High School in 2000. He attended Cowley College in Arkansas City and Johnson County Community College in Overland Park studying Journalism & Media Communications. In 2002 Derek joined Taylor Communications, Inc. in Salina, Kansas working in digital media for 550 AM KFRM and 100.9 FM KCLY. Following that stop, he joined Dierking Communications, Inc. stations KNDY AM & FM as a board operator and fill-in sports play-by-play announcer. Starting in 2005 Derek joined the Kansas City Chiefs Radio Network as a Studio Coordinator at 101 The Fox in Kansas City, a role he would serve for 15 years culminating in the Super Bowl LIV Championship game broadcast. In 2020 he moved to Audacy, formerly known as Entercom Communications, Inc. and 106.5 The Wolf and 610 Sports Radio, the new flagship stations of the Kansas City Chiefs Radio Network, the largest radio network in the NFL. Through all of this, Derek continues to serve as the Digital Media Director for Sunflower State Radio, the digital and social media operations of Dierking Communications, Inc. and the 6 radio stations it owns and operates across Kansas.

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