Colorado River Aqueduct Rehabilitation

Project Description:  This project rehabilitated sections of the 242-mile-long Colorado River Aqueduct that supplies Los Angeles with 50% of its water. On this logistically challenging project, W. A. Rasic Construction completed 100% of critical Phase 1 work in a single shut-down period of less than the three weeks allotted by the contract. Fielding approximately 250 team members, and working around the clock 24/7, W. A. Rasic sealed the gates at Whipple Tunnel Inlet then dewatered more than 150 million gallons of water from the aqueduct, installed 50 mechanical blow-off assemblies, abandoned 27 concrete transition drains, installed 32 internal joint seals measuring 162-inches in diameter, as well as rehabilitated two aqueduct radial gates (14,500 and 8,000 pounds, respectively). We also installed a flow metering system at Cooper Basin Inlet Tunnel to allow the Metropolitan Water District to measure intake more accurately from the Colorado River at Parker Dam. Much of the work was completed inside aqueduct tunnels and buried pipe sections, which required extensive ventilation measures and specialized equipment to comply with OSHA mining and tunneling conditions. The work was completed early, avoiding $3,000 per hour liquidated damages.