The first pipe delivery for the Chimney Hollow Conduit arrived on June 27. The conduit consists of about 1-mile of buried 72-inch diameter steel pipe that will bring water from the existing Colorado-Big Thompson (CB-T) Project infrastructure into Chimney Hollow Reservoir. The pipe will be buried about 15 to 20 feet deep and will be able to deliver 400 cubic feet per second.   

The 40-foot sections of pipe are delivered one at a time on a semi-truck from the manufacturing plant in California. Approximately 150 sections will be delivered throughout the next several months.  

The heaviest section of pipe weighs 33,650 pounds and will be placed just outside of the valve house located at the base of the dam. The weight and thickness of the pipe decreases as you travel up toward the Bald Mountain Interconnect because the pressure in the pipeline decreases with elevation. At the top of the hill, the water pressure will be about 36 pounds per square inch (PSI), and at the bottom of the hill, it will be about 550 PSI.   

The Chimney Hollow Conduit construction is expected to be completed in spring 2023. It is a major component of the water conveyance system, which also includes the CB-T Project interconnects, valve house, inlet/outlet tunnel and the inlet/outlet tower.