• Bear Creek Dam
• Hackberry Draw Spillway
• Marrowbone Dam
• Paddy Creek Dam
• Sallisaw Watershed Spillway
• Saluda Dam
• Taum Sauk Dam Upper Reservoir
• Thompson Creek Molybdenum Mine

Taum Sauk Dam Upper Reservoir Rebuild

Ironton, Missouri
Client: Paul C. Rizzo Associates, Inc.
Owner: AmerenUE

In December of 2005 the Taum Sauk Dam Upper Reservoir failed, causing an uncontrolled, rapid release of water. In 2006 the Owner, AmerenUE, made the decision to rebuild the dam in the original footprint, using the materials from the existing dam along with fly ash from a waste pond at a nearby coal-fired plant to create the aggregate for the new dam. The project consisted of excavation of the existing rockfill dike for crushing into RCC aggregates, foundation preparation, and mass, leveling, dental, bedding and facing concrete, as well as the placement of approximately 3 million cubic yards of RCC.

Fall Line was retained by Paul C. Rizzo Associates, Inc., the Engineer of Record and Construction Manager, to perform Phase 1 of the Mix Design Program for the Rebuild. The Fall Line staff performed the laboratory testing on aggregates from the existing rim dike of Taum Sauk Dam. This material was removed from the berm and transported to Hilton Head, South Carolina for crushing. It was then delivered to the mix design facility that Fall Line utilized in Columbia, South Carolina. Aggregates were separated into individual sieve sizes after oversized aggregates were removed from the stockpile. Aggregates Qualification Testing was then performed to serve as a basis for the trial RCC mix designs.

Once construction on the dam began, Fall Line built an on-site, 6,000 square foot testing laboratory, including a 2,000 square foot concrete cylinder curing room. The laboratory served as the on-site Mix Design Testing Facility, as well as Fall Line's headquarters for providing Testing Oversight Quality Assurance and Quality Control for the project. The Fall Line staff was comprised of over 30 engineers, technicians and clerical employees who worked day and night shifts to provide testing services for the rebuild.

Laboratory RCC mix designs with varying amount of fly ash and cement were performed, including  laboratory tests on cylinders to test for compressive strength, modulus of elasticity and split tensile strength. Accelerated test methods were also utilized to project the 365-day compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, and split tensile strength.

The Taum Sauk Upper Reservoir Rebuild was awarded the USSD 2010 Construction Project of the Year.