Rebuilding the Oroville Dam Spillways

Summary by Krater

This video details the massive engineering effort to rebuild the spillways at Oroville Dam in California following their catastrophic failure in February 2017. It walks through the emergency response, the investigation into the causes of failure, and the complex design and construction phases required to restore the spillways before the next flood season.

From the video

Answers: How did engineers rebuild the Oroville Dam spillway after its catastrophic failure?

• Oroville Dam spillway failure
• Dam remediation and reconstruction
• Roller-compacted concrete in construction
• Geotechnical investigation and foundation prep
• Spillway design alternatives and scale modeling
• Regulatory oversight and board of consultants

What it concludes

• The original Oroville Dam spillway failed catastrophically due to poor underlying soil and rock conditions and design deficiencies.
• Engineers evaluated three alternatives for the main spillway: use the hole, bridge the hole, and fill the hole.
• Roller-compacted concrete was selected for the rebuild because it could be produced onsite, cures quickly, and has low thermal effects.
• Phase 1 of construction successfully restored an operational spillway before the 2017-2018 winter flood season.
• Phase 2 addressed remaining structural improvements, including rebuilding the emergency spillway chute and installing a secant pile cutoff wall.