Utility authorizes extra funds for Leaburg roll gate repairs

LEABURG: The Eugene Water & Electric Board’s directors last week approved additional funds for repairs to the Leaburg Dam. The action will allow work to move forward at a cost that could exceed 25% of the original contract price of $399,000 awarded to the Wildish Construction Company.

In a memo to EWEB’s directors, the utility’s engineering manager, Mel Damewood, reported that to replace the failed hydraulic motor for Roll Gate 2, EWEB had authorized installing a bulkhead upstream of the dam. The structure was designed to permit testing the roll gates operation without causing excessive lake level or downstream river flow fluctuations, he noted. In addition, to eliminate potential conflicts at the dam, the bulkhead work was expected to be completed before the hoist replacement contractor arrived on site.

In March an EWEB inspector reported problems with the partially installed bulkhead. Those issues came into conflict with “The primary objective of the roll gate repair work,” Damewood said, “which was to make Gate 2 operational prior to the onset of the upcoming wet weather season. Achieving this objective has been made more difficult by the bulkhead design issue.”

Repair work will now move forward and EWEB staffers are scheduled to update EWEB’s board at their September 9th meeting in Leaburg.

Image above: The unique design of the Leaburg Dam’s roller gate system has caused delays in efforts to repair damage to the mechanism that controls water flows through the structure.

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