Upgrading Pikes Creek Dam Auxiliary Spillway with Fusegates

Abstract Only - The Fusegate System has become one of the most viable options particularly for the rehabilitation of non-mechanical spillways. It offers an accurate and reliable solution to replace flashboards and is especially cost effective when rehabilitating dams with limited freeboard.Pikes Creek Dam is located on Pikes Creek, about five miles northwest of Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Built in 1911, the dam is owned and operated by Pennsylvania American Water (PAW), and is used for water supply. The dam is 65 feet high and 2,155 feet long homogenous earthfill embankment with a reinforced concrete core wall. The principal spillway located on the right abutment is of free overflow type and is 72 feet long. The auxiliary spillway consists of a 244-foot-long fixed crest ogee spillway equipped with flashboards. Hydraulic studies revealed that the combined principal and auxiliary spillways can pass only 23 percent of the Probable Maximum Flood (PMF). Since the dam is classified as a high hazard structure, it is required to pass the full PMF.

Upon assessment of various alternatives, including the construction of a large fixed-crest labyrinth weir and embankment overtopping protection, the design team selected a new 250-foot wide auxiliary spillway at the right abutment equipped with eighteen 9.3-foot high pre-cast concrete labyrinth crested Hydroplus Fusegates. The project was successfully completed in December 2017 and also included improving embankment stability, improving seepage collection, and providing upstream closure for conduits passing through the dam embankment. The Fusegate solution is the first labyrinth Fusegate project in Pennsylvania. This presentation will focus on the Pikes Creek Dam Rehabilitation project with an emphasis on the application of Fusegates to increase spillway capacity.