Bulkhead Dry Test Complete

An important but rarely used piece of infrastructure successfully passed dry testing last month, bringing all dry testing at Chimney Hollow Reservoir to a close. The bulkhead is a large fitting that can be placed inside the tower to essentially prevent water from flowing into the tunnel pipeline. It is kept off site and is only used when crews need to enter the pipeline for an inspection and/or maintenance. 

To dry test the bulkhead, a crane operator lifted the bulkhead up and into the inlet/outlet tower where crews helped guide it down to meet the pipeline. Once in place, the bulkhead was lifted up and down into place three times to complete the dry test requirements.   

When the reservoir has water in it, the bulkhead will be placed from a barge on the water. Specially trained divers will dive down to place the bulkhead, which will allow crews to inspect and maintain the pipe that delivers water in and out of the reservoir.