LAWTON – The City Council awarded multimillion- dollar contracts to repair the Lake Ellsworth Dam and to replace water lines in southeast Lawton. In addition, work continues on replacement of a water main along Cache Road.
And in yet another capital improvement project, repairs to the Wolf Creek bridges in the 4000 b lock of Cache Road are progressing.
McMillen Inc., an engineering, environmental, and construction company, was awarded a $46.4 million contract to repair the spillway of the Lake Ellsworth Dam.
Ellsworth’s concrete spillway was damaged after heavy rains in 2015 forced the city to o pen the floodgates to release runoff water that otherwise would have topped the dam.
City officials knew from the outset that heavy runoff damaged concrete panels in the spillway. However, further analysis revealed other problems, such as empty spaces beneath the spillway that were identified after geotechnical and engineering analyses. The spillway “floated” during the water releases, Public Utilities Director Rusty Whisenhunt told Southwest Ledger.
The repairs will include installing 110 robust rock anchors, placing more drains beneath the apron, sealing numerous cracks, overlaying the 363-foot-long spillway with a 20-inch-thick concrete slab, retrofitting the spillway retaining walls, adding chute blocks on the spillway stilling basin, and adding riprap along the east side of the spillway.
McMillen’s bid was one of three submitted for the repair project and was approximately 31% higher than the engineer’s estimate because of the rock anchors and spillway concrete work. “This appears to be acceptable based on the nature and complexity of the work,' consultants from Jacobs Engineering Group told city officials.
Mobilization at the site is expected to occur in early June and, “There are a large number of material submittals that will have to be reviewed prior to the start of work,” said Caitlin Gatlin, the city’s communication manager.
The project will take perhaps two and a half years to complete, Whisenhunt said.
According to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, the Ellsworth dam is a combination earth fill and concrete structure 3,900 feet long, 96 feet high, and 30 feet wide at the top. It has 15 gates, each 10 feet high and 20 feet wide.
Lake Ellsworth is northeast of Lawton, between Elgin and Apache, and straddles the Comanche/Caddo county line. It was built by the City of Lawton in 1962 as a source of drinking water and for recreation. The reservoir, an impoundment of East Cache Creek, encompasses 5,100 surface acres and has 53.5 miles of shoreline.
The City Council also awarded a $7.75 million contract to Timco Blasting & Coatings of Bristow for replacement of water lines in an area east of Sheridan Road to 11th Street and south of Lee Boulevard to Bishop Road.
Timco’s bid was the lowest among four that were submitted for the job, and was $927,466 cheaper than the engineer’s estimate. The contract will be financed from a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund loan issued to the City of Lawton.
Replacement of a water main along Cache Road is advancing.
Evans Construction is building a 36-inch line along Cache Road from 67th Street east to the 4100 block of Cache Road. That project includes a 30-inch line along Atlanta Avenue west of 67th to Hunter Road and south to Cache Road.
A crew was “on Atlanta, working on piping” last Thursday, Gatlin told the Ledger. Restoration of Hunter Road “is scheduled to start in the next couple of weeks,” she added.
In the vicinity of Fusion Buffet, in the 4100 block of Cache Road, a 42-inch line “comes in from the north and feeds the 36-inch line and a 12-inch line” that extends along Cache Road from Northwest Oak Avenue to the east side of Fort Sill Boulevard, Gatlin said. Cimarron Construction is the contractor on the 12-inch line.
In a related project, a water line leak at 67th and Cache Road is due to be repaired soon. “The material has been ordered and shipping is scheduled for April 22,” Gatlin said.
Also underway is rehabilitation of the eastbound and westbound bridges spanning Wolf Creek in the 4000 block of Northwest Cache Road, near the Olive Garden restaurant.
Interim Engineering Director Mike Jones said both bridges are structurally deficient “and require repairs to expansion joints and construction joints, replacement of bearing assemblies, specialized removal of leadbased paint and repainting, and stone riprap along the channel to prevent erosion.”
That work is “40% to 50% completed,” Gatlin said last week.
The City Council awarded a $1.85 million contract on that job to the low bidder, K&R Builders, on Jan. 14.