Chimney Hollow Reservoir Nears Completion with Several Tasks Ahead

After nearly four years of construction, crews at Chimney Hollow Reservoir can see their efforts coming to fruition.

“The definition of a project is that it has a start date and an end date, and we are at the end of the Chimney Hollow Reservoir construction project,” said Principal Project Manager Joe Donnelly of Northern Water.

Managers of the project can sense the excitement of the teams tasked with building the components of the project. In the past month, teams have performed dry testing of the many valves at the reservoir, and in many cases, tested them with water inside them, as well.

By the end of May, the final blasting at the quarry for rock materials will have taken place, and the crews at the crest of the dam will be placing the final few feet of asphalt core and rockfill. The space on the crest is so narrow that the large 100-ton dump trucks no longer fit, and the asphalt core team has to work during daytime and the rockfill placement team at night to navigate the narrow space.

The Chimney Hollow Reservoir Project team plans to start placing water in the reservoir in July, which will kick off dam safety testing with the State of Colorado.

Watch this video to learn more about progress at the site.