Construction
Construction Underway at Chimney Hollow
350 Foot Tall Main Dam
40 Foot Tall Saddle Dam
12 Million Cubic Yards of Rockfill
35000 Cubic Yards of Concrete
500 Employees on Site Daily
Northern Water's Municipal Subdistrict selected Barnard Construction Company, Inc. as the General Contractor for the Chimney Reservoir Project, located in Larimer County. Barnard and the Municipal Subdistrict entered into a contract in December 2019. Primary components for Chimney Hollow Reservoir include:
- Chimney Hollow main dam will be a rockfill structure with a hydraulic asphaltic concrete (HAC) core approximately 350 feet tall. The main dam will contain approximately 12 million cubic yards of rockfill and 75,000 cubic yards of asphaltic concrete. Rockfill and aggregates will be sourced from within the reservoir footprint at the on-site quarry. A two-row grout curtain and consolidation grouting were required for foundation preparation.
- A combined reservoir inlet and outlet consisting of a submerged single-level inlet, a tunnel under the right (east) abutment of the dam with a steel-lined, concrete-encased conduit with access to the centrally located valve chamber from downstream.
- A 5,000-foot-long concrete spillway on the left (west) abutment with stilling basin. The spillway contains approximately 7,000 cubic yards of concrete.
- A 40-foot-high saddle dam to close the southern end of the reservoir. It is a clay-core rockfill dam. The saddle dam contains approximately 100,000 cubic yards of rockfill and 30,000 cubic yards of clay.
- Water conveyance facilities include new buried pipelines connecting the Chimney Hollow Reservoir's inlet/outlet to the Bald Mountain Tunnel and Carter Lake Pressure Conduit and a valve house consisting of energy dissipation facilities to control flow and pressure into and out of the reservoir.
On-site construction started in August 2021 after the formal Notice to Proceed was given to Barnard Construction. Construction is expected to last four years. The construction cost is budgeted for $535 million.
Construction Site Blasting Schedule
An updated construction site blasting schedule will be posted weekly but is subject to change and this page will be updated as needed. Multiple blasts may happen in a single day and can occur 7 days a week.
Blasting schedule:
May 6 - Quarry, 1-4 p.m.
May 8 - Quarry, 1-4 p.m.
Construction Site Night Work
Chimney Hollow never sleeps. Neighbors will notice lights and dust as work continues through the night to keep our schedule on track. Multiple crews work in two, 12-hour shifts, 6-7 days a week.
Current night work includes:
- Crushing operations until midnight
- Tunnel operations through the night
- Main Dam operations through the night
Even with night operations, rest assured that there are no blasts scheduled during nighttime hours and we continue to monitor noise levels at multiple locations 24 hours a day.
If you have any questions or concerns, please email CHRinfo@northernwater.org.
Main Construction Components
Construction Teams
In a typical day on site, about 400 personnel come in and out of the security gate at Chimney Hollow Reservoir, which includes all the office and field staff. Northern Water is the project owner and has four employees on site daily, along with many others working on the project offsite. To complete the project, Northern Water has partnered with the following companies:
- Barnard Construction, based in Bozeman, Montana, is the general contractor. It employees the largest number of personnel on site and hired many subcontractors to help during construction, including many local hires.
- Black & Veatch, based in Overland Park, Kansas, is the construction manager. Approximately 12 employees are on site, with others working on the project remotely or from area offices. Black & Veatch subcontracted Kleinfelder, based in San Diego, California, to help with the on-site materials testing labs. Kleinfelder has about 5 personnel on site, with others working remotely.
- Stantec, based in Edmonton, Canada, is the design engineer. The on-site team consists of about six employees, with others working on the project remotely or from area offices.
Subcontracting Opportunities
To inquire about subcontracting opportunities with Barnard, please email Chimney.Hollow@Barnard-inc.com.