Earlier this month, the state Department of Water Resources provided an update on construction activities and estimated costs for the Oroville Spillways Emergency Recovery Project.
The Oroville facilities are a key part of the State Water Project. The ongoing repair work following the damage to the facilities in February 2017 is essential to water reliability for Metropolitan and two-thirds of the state's residents and businesses.
DWR 's latest estimate for emergency response and reconstruction of the main and emergency spillways is $1.1 billion. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is expected to provide much of the reimbursement. State Water Contractors, including Metropolitan, will pay most of the remaining costs.
Here are two DWR videos showing construction progress on Phase 2 of the project:
Material is processed at the rock crushing plant then transported to the roller-compacted concrete (RCC) plant. Heavy haulers are continuously loaded and the material is then placed on the emergency spillway apron. Crews spread, shape, and compact the concrete.
Work continues through the night. Structural concrete, destined for an upper chute slab, is cooled with liquid nitrogen to maximum temperature requirements. It is loaded into the hopper and pumped to the placement crew on the upper spillway. Concrete is placed into forms for the erosion-resistant structural slabs.