CONTRACTOR INFORMATION Must be an Inland Northwest AGC member in good standing

Company Name (list all if a joint venture):

Entry Submitted By: Title:

E-mail:

PROJECT TEAM INFORMATION

Owner:

General Contractor:

Lead Architect: Lead Engineer:

Major Sub-Contractors:

PROJECT INFORMATION

Project Name:

Location:

Contract Amount:

Date Project Started:

Completion Date:

What was the percentage of volume of work on this project performed with your own field personnel? %

Were there any fatalities on this project? Yes No

Attach additional sheets if necessary

Building (under $10 million)

Building ($10 million and over)

Highway & Transportation

Send this form and your completed entry package to:

Inland Northwest AGCBuild Northwest Awards4935 E. Trent Ave.Spokane, WA 99212

All entries must be received no later than 4:00 pm on October 25, 2019 at the AGC office.

PROJECT TYPECHECK ONE (See Project Category section in Entry Packet for detailed descriptions of each project type.)

Heavy & Utilities

Sub-Contractor

Out of Area

Small Projects

Special Projects

CHECK ONE New Construction Renovation

The 2019 Build Northwest Awards

Entry Form - Contractors

X

X

Garco

Tim Loucks Vice President

tloucks@garco.com

USACE Walla Walla District

Garco

Lower Granite Dam Juvenile Fish Facility Phase 1a

Pomeroy, WA

$69.2M

April 2019

68

x

NA Jon Renholds/CORP

M&L Construction, McClintock & Turk Inc., Mike's Mechanical Service, S & S Coatings,

GPI Corporation, Talisman

November 2014

2019 BUILD NORTHWEST AWARDSCATEGORY: HEAVY & UTILITIES

LOCATION: POMEROY, WASUBMITTED BY: TIM LOUCKS, VICE PRESIDENT CIVIL DIVISION

2019 BUILD NORTHWEST AWARDS

LOWER GRANITE DAMJuvenile fish facility Phase 1a

Building Excellence in Our Ecosystem

WHY THIS PROJECT DESERVES A BUILD NORTHWEST AWARD

Lower Granite Dam is the furthest upstream of the four lower Snake River dams, and the furthest upstream dam with fish passage capability in the Snake River system. Situated less than 10 miles from the Washington/Idaho border, Lower Granite is nearly 140 miles downstream of Hells Canyon Dam, the next dam upstream.

This reach of the Snake River collects several major tributaries including the main Clearwater River drainage, which also encompasses the Selway and Lochsa Rivers, and the main Salmon River as well as the South, East, North and Middle Forks of the Salmon. These river systems comprise a major portion of the state of Idaho and yield an overall drainage area of 103,200 square miles above Lower Granite.

A large anadromous fish population consisting of steelhead trout and three species of salmon resides within this riverine system, providing significant ecological, recreational, and financial benefits. Numerous hatcheries supplement the wild fish stocks and contributed to an overall population estimate of nearly 21 million juvenile fish (smolts) in 2018.

Each spring, these smolts migrate from their spawning grounds or hatcheries downstream through the Snake and Columbia river systems to the Pacific Ocean. At each dam between Lower Granite and the ocean, a downstream juvenile fish passage system collects the smolts and diverts them through a dedicated path to avoid going over the spillways or through the hydroelectric turbines. The estimated passage through this system at Lower Granite was nearly 10 million smolts in 2018, or almost 50% of the total migration.

The Lower Granite Dam Juvenile Fish Facility Phase 1a project replaced the entire downstream juvenile fish passage system, converting it from the original pressurized pipe system to an elevated open channel flume system.

Features of the new passage: • More than 1,700 feet of elevated structural steel flume,

carried by a combination of steel trusses, plate girders, and steel piping supported on steel and concrete columns atop drilled shaft

• Two dewatering structures to concentrate the fish• Three-level loop structure that lowers the fish

gradually to improve their survival

The smolts can either be directed back into the river or to a juvenile fish facility for tagging, biological study, or barging downstream to avoid subsequent dams.

In addition, the collection system within the dam was heavily modified to improve the fish entrances, reduce flow velocities, and extend the collection channel to the downstream face of the dam to connect to the new elevated flume. These modifications included extensive concrete mining to widen the 564-foot long existing channel by 3.5 feet and extend it 140 feet through solid concrete. In-dam

work also entailed reinforced concrete channel lining to fish passage smoothness requirements, replacement of mechanical orifices and sluice gates, and placing 1,800 CY of mass concrete to decommission 18 bulkhead slots and support the widened collection channel. Air piping, electrical, and control systems were upgraded to provide fully automatic operation of the new orifice and gate system.

This enormously complex project was conducted within an active 840-megawatt hydroelectric facility employing more than 170 people and providing both upstream and downstream fish passage. Garco and the US Army Corps of Engineers worked hand-in-hand to ensure that fish passage and operation of the critical features remained functional throughout construction.

The contract stipulated strict adherence to multiple state and federal requirements governing in-water work windows as well as adult and juvenile fish passage periods, which resulted in extensive night and multiple shift work. Extensive design changes and scope additions resulted in three major schedule extensions equal to 31 months and 248 contract modifications totaling nearly $21 million.

Despite the magnitude of these changes, Garco’s quality and safety controls ensured that the work was completed to very high standards.

Extensive planning, phasing, and coordination with facility operations was critical for the project’s success. As the Prime Contractor, Garco Construction’s project team closely collaborated with USACE Walla Walla District representatives to minimize impacts to daily operations, as well as addressing noise, vibration, and access restrictions.

Garco self-performed 68% of the work, including clearing, site demolition, excavation, underground and aboveground utilities, reinforced concrete, structural steel, and interior finish work. The remainder of the scope of work was performed by valued trade partners.

The Lower Granite Dam Juvenile Fish Facility is a prime example of Garco’s commitment to building excellence. Throughout the project there was a superior level of collaboration; innovation, scheduling, and attention to detail that allowed the project team to meet ongoing location, design and material procurement challenges.

The final product is an exceptional combination of elements that exceeded the Corps’ expectations and accomplished the desired improvements for downstream passage survival rates. Testing conducted in 2018 confirmed that the overall survival rate of smolts passing through the new bypass was 99.5%.

Final Value: $69.2M

Project Completion:April 2019

Delivery Method:Design-Bid-Build

PROJECT NARRATIVE

A. DIFFICULTY IN CONSTRUCTIONLOCATION As with any remote site, Lower Granite Dam’s (LGD) location created unique challenges for Garco during the course of this project. The dam site is 30 miles from the closest town, much less any major cities with suitable construction suppliers.

The work area was located on the south side of the dam. Due to its geometry, the roadway over the dam can only pass vehicles less than 40 feet in length, so the majority of the materials and equipment transported from Spokane were forced to detour more than an hour out of the way to reach the project site. Continual forward planning for deliveries was critical to ensure that the work proceeded without delay.

Working alongside and within the Snake River, the adult fish ladder, and the juvenile collection facility added major site constraints. Extensive on-site environmental controls were implemented throughout the project to prevent contaminants from entering the associated waterways.

Protection of the adult fish ladder in close proximity to large structural elements was a major consideration during the 10-month operations window for adult fish passage each year. Protective measures employed included covering the fish ladder with fabric to prevent rapid shadowing from equipment working nearby, monitoring noise and vibration, and performing activities that created larger disturbances at night to avoid hindering the upstream movement of fish. These efforts allowed the Owner to comply with all federal fish passage regulations, and there were no environmental issues or citations recorded throughout the entire project duration.

This proximity to the adult ladder created extremely tight conditions for constructing one of the most crucial facets of the project, the Primary Dewatering Structure (PDS).

The PDS is a multi-level water-containing structure over 80 feet tall and 150 feet long, constructed on a steeply sloping hillside in between sections of the adult fish ladder. This location required deep excavations in rock, temporary slope support utilizing soil nails and shotcrete, and underpinning of an adjacent bridge pier. See PDS images on the next page.

The reinforced concrete structure is founded on 7-foot diameter drilled shafts with concrete columns supporting a two-foot thick floor slab over 40 feet above grade. Maximum water depth above this floor slab is 12.5 feet, and the liquid-containing level of the structure is divided into three chambers by 20-foot tall concrete walls.

Extensive mechanical systems, including 12 slide and sluice gates, fish screen panels, welded steel piping up to 60” diameter (both above ground and buried), and air bubbler and mechanical screen cleaners (both horizontal

and vertical) were incorporated. The second-level deck is structural steel with metal grating. The entire structure is covered by a pre-engineered metal building with overhead crane and emergency bypass hoist systems.

The PDS concentrates the fish from a 6-foot by 10-foot box structure into a much smaller flume cross-section, reducing the water volume by over 85%. The excess water is released through a downwell that can be valved to discharged directly to the river or through diffuser pipes near the adult fish ladder entrance as attraction water to encourage fish to move upstream.

Construction of the PDS between legs of the fish ladder created innumerable access problems as there wasn’t room for crane access adjacent to the structure. All craning had to be performed from one end of the structure or across one leg of the fish ladder. Manlift access was limited to one end and one side of the structure as well, and nothing could be dropped into the fish ladder. These constraints necessitated construction of the PDS in three successive horizontal sections rather than a traditional approach of building it one level at a time vertically.

MATERIAL PROCUREMENTThroughout the fabrication and shop assembly process, Garco ensured all suppliers performed to contract requirements. Many of the components required extensive fabrication and long lead times, including structural steel, steel water piping, gates, and valves.

As-designed, the structural steel was entirely field assembled in small pieces which required an enormous amount of site labor and field painting. In order to increase productivity and provide improved coating quality, Garco coordinated with the steel fabricator to construct the ‘loop structure’ into modular yard assemblies at their facility and perform virtually all preparation and painting within a controlled environment.

The assemblies were shop fit to each adjacent section prior to coating, which enabled the fabricator to verify that alignment and fit up of the steel was in accordance with the plans and approved shop drawings. This shop verification allowed for much better quality control and greatly reduced assembly time by Garco’s ironworkers.

Garco also encountered challenges with several fabricators of the steel piping and specialty expansion joints. The original pipe fabricator was terminated and replaced due to their inability to meet the schedule requirements. Two fabricators of the fabric expansion joints were unable to provide components of the necessary quality and were terminated as well. A third fabricator was finally able to produce an acceptable product.

DESIGN CHALLENGESThe contract stipulated a very aggressive schedule originally set for 27 months. During construction, there were numerous design revisions necessitated by interference with existing facilities as well as scope additions to benefit the overall project. Nearly 250 contract modifications were issued throughout the course of the project in response to these issues.

Work on large portions of the site was restricted by juvenile and adult fish passage and in-water work windows, necessitating double shift work of six days per week for nearly 11 months to modify the existing collection channel between passage operations.

While contractor-designed elements were required throughout the project, the automated controls program evolved from a design-bid-build scope to a design-build activity as the project progressed.

On two separate occasions, work on the electrical and controls scopes was suspended by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to allow their design team to reevaluate the plans and specifications. Garco utilized both internal and subcontractor resources and partnered with the Owner to prioritize resolution of massive hardware and programming issues in the original design. During these collaborative efforts it became clear that the best solution for the project was for Garco to take over design of the control system to ensure the end product provided the intended result.

Over the next five months, Garco and our subcontractorsdesigned and implemented a fully revised automation system and graphic display interface, executed over 20 critical change orders for added conduit and wiring, brought in start-up agents to expedite the commissioning of over 40 electrically and pneumatically controlled gates and hoists, and performed contractor and government commissioning tasks before fish passage was required for the start of the season in 2018.

A. DIFFICULTY IN CONSTRUCTION CONT.

Primary Dewatering System (PDS)

Several uncommon means of construction were required on LGD to construct the project elements. One example of this involved the Transportation Flume downstream of the Primary Dewatering Structure (PDS).

The transportation flume transports the juvenile fish nearly 1,000 feet from the PDS to a three-level structural steel loop structure. The flume is carried by three-structural steel truss spans of 80, 127 and 192 feet, as well as a nearly 600-feet span, mounted on 48” diameter steel pipe atop steel and concrete columns. The steel truss spans connect to the PDS and carry the fish flume over the existing adult fish ladder. These lattice steel trusses are 8 feet wide and as deep as 20 feet, with the heaviest span weighing over 100 tons.

Due to access and hoisting constraints, Garco designed and constructed a temporary shoring tower above the fish ladder to allow the longest truss to be pre-assembled into two sections with a maximum weight of 63 tons and spliced on top of the tower.

Garco’s ironworkers fully assembled the truss sections on the ground with all components installed including a 48-inch diameter steel water line and the fish flume, and then flew them into place with two large cranes while the adult ladder remained active.

This activity required a large amount of critical lift planning and coordination with the existing facilities, since one section of the truss had to be lifted over the Dam’s visitor center. After the truss was fully assembled, the shoring tower was dismantled during the winter maintenance period of the fish ladder.

Downstation from the truss, structural steel columns were installed on drilled concrete shaft foundations to support the 48-inch diameter water supply pipe and the fish passage flume. The design made the water supply pipe into a structural element, with the flume attached to and supported by the pipe itself.

Garco coordinated with the structural steel and pipe fabricators to pre-assemble the steel pipe and flume components into modules that spanned between each column in the steel fabricator’s shop, and paint the entire assembly prior to delivery to site. This process resulted in greatly decreased assembly time on site and improved coating application. The entire 600-foot run of pipe and flume was installed in less than three weeks.

Concrete mining within the existing dam to enlarge and lengthen the collection channel was a unique operation as well. This mining operation required excavation to within 3.5 feet of the upstream face of the dam. Due to breaching concerns, Garco utilized divers to secure a structural steel safety bulkhead to the face of the dam spanning the area where this mining was to occur. The safety bulkhead was approximately 26 feet tall, 27 feet wide, and weighed more

than 50,000 pounds. A 10-foot wide corbel jutting out from the dam prevented installation of the bulkhead by setting in place directly with a crane.

Garco designed and implemented an elaborate erection plan which utilized a crane sitting on top of the dam to fly the steel bulkhead off the dam and lower it into the water. The bulkhead was then passed to a Flexi-Float barge with winches attached to the bow, essentially using the barge itself as a hoisting device. The barge was then pushed into place with a work boat, and the bulkhead lowered onto ledgers that had been previously attached to the face of the dam. (See next page for image.)

Divers then drilled and anchored this safety bulkhead into position with steel rods epoxied into the dam. While the mining operation stayed within the limits shown in the plans and did not contact the bulkhead in any manner, the installation of this item was a feature worth remembering.

Channel widening was conducted in two very short work windows from December through February. The existing channel was 20 feet tall by 6 feet wide, and the lower 10 feet had to be mined out for 4’-1” core drilling, and plunge cutting with diamond wire saws were employed to provide a clean cut at the top of the lower section, and robotic demolition equipment with hammers demolished the concrete.

Concrete rubble had to be transported nearly 600 feet to the single access point available to hoist debris from this operation. The demolition robots were used to mine the new channel section to exit the downstream face of the dam as well.

B. CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES

Transportation Flume ConstructionSee Next Page for Finished Image

B. CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES CONT.

Safety Bulkhead

C. FINAL APPEARANCE

Garco has a long-standing commitment to construct a quality product that the Owner and our team are proud of upon completion. Lower Granite Dam Juvenile Fish Facility Phase 1a fulfills this commitment and more.

Completing a project with the overall magnitude and complexity of the new fish passage system is commendable in and of itself, but the quality of workmanship prevalent throughout is exceptional. With tolerances of fish-contact surfaces measuring 1/16th of an inch, both the structural steel and concrete work was performed to an extremely high standard.

After two separate seasons of commissioning, Garco turned over the new juvenile fish passage system to USACE in March of 2018. Through two full fish passage seasons, there have been no significant issues and the system has performed better than originally anticipated.

Left: Beginning of ConstructionRight: Overview Shot

Transportation Flume Finished

When viewed from afar, a project which was completed over 2 ½ years after its original completion date could be viewed as untimely. However, almost 250 modifications, three schedule extensions, and nearly $21 million in change orders were executed throughout the course of this project which greatly increased the scope and time for completion.

Over the course of three in-water work windows, Garco and the Corps developed and refined a detailed schedule that allowed for juvenile passage to resume in the middle of March each year for the 9-month juvenile passage season set forth by federal agencies.

Working inside a hydroelectric facility with heavy demolition and concrete scopes required constant partnering efforts between all involved to allow for concurrent operations to succeed in their tasks.

In response to the continually changing scope Garco utilized our construction knowledge to anticipate and communicate potential time impacts and design issues in a timely fashion to allow resolution without affecting hydroelectric generation or fish passage.

By readjusting schedule logic, working multiple shifts and extended hours as required, and turning a design-bid-build project into more of a design-build, USACE was able to remain compliant with their regulatory restrictions.

At all times fish passage remained the top priority in the given time frames, and Garco achieved all of the interim milestones to ensure conformance.

Performing an initial commissioning in early 2018 resulted in the Owner being able to take control of the system in time for the full fish passage window. Garco then completed all change orders before the 2019 season, and finished the added activities related to commissioning in March of 2019. This allowed ample time for Garco to provide in-depth training to on-site USACE personnel for their operation and maintenance teams to be successful.

Garco and USACE worked diligently to resolve all issues without the need for mediation, arbitration or litigation , by fostering a strong partnering environment between the management groups of each party. All revised contract milestones were met and the project was completed on time.

D. PUNCTUAL COMPLETION

Over the course of this project, almost 250,000 total man-hours were worked, with Garco self-performing almost 170,000 man-hours. Garco upheld a strong commitment to safety for all tasks and trades throughout the contract.

The scope of work included drilling large diameter shafts from both temporary work trestle and barges, extensive elevated concrete work, a vast amount of structural steel erection, underground pipe installation and welding, in-water diving, tunneling and mining, and years of working and commissioning inside an active hydroelectric dam.

In conjunction with established company procedures, Garco implemented site-specific safety plans reviewed with each on-site employee at orientations, task specific hazard analyses for each work area and type, critical lift plans for high-risk craning, weekly safety inspections with crew members, and weekly job site meetings with all trades. Garco also employed a full-time site safety and health officer at all times, and a second safety professional when working two shifts. These efforts paid off as the project experienced only two recordable incidents with no time loss.

E. PROJECT SAFETY PERFORMANCE

4114 E. BROADWAY AVE, SPOKANE, WA 99202 | GARCO.COM