High lake levels and an unavailable bulkhead couldn’t stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District from inspecting Hugo Dam in Hugo, Okla., July 8-9.
The Red River operations office, Hugo Lake Project Office, and the Tulsa District Infrastructure Branch worked with the Tulsa District’s Hydrology and Hydraulics Branch to coordinate gate changes during a Gate Operational Capability Inspection.
The GOCI is one part of the overall periodic inspection, and primarily focuses on gates and components associated with water releases. In addition to performing maintenance, materials and components are raised and lowered during testing. To prevent water releases during the process, floating bulkheads are placed between the gate and the lake to block water.
The bulkhead for Hugo Dam is being replaced, and lake levels were more than eight feet above the top of the conservation pool, so the team got creative to ensure the inspection could take place.
“By capitalizing on the high-water event, we were able to successfully complete the GOCI through coordination between the H and H water manager, Operations project staff, and Infrastructure Dam Safety,” said Stephanie Bozarth, an engineer from the Infrastructure Branch, Tulsa District, USACE.
During testing, the team isolated water releases to a single gate to match the required release. While raising one gate they simultaneously lowered the gate next to it in sequence.
“The amount of water being released changes as the lake’s elevation changes, so we began when the lake was below elevation 614,” said Bozarth. “We had to keep releases from Hugo below 20,000 cubic feet per second and maintain a relatively consistent release and downstream flow.”
In addition to annual inspections, USACE dams undergo GOCI every five years to identify and correct potential problem areas and ensure the dam operates as intended.
Tulsa District Safety Office staff, park rangers, engineers, technicians, and electricians from the Broken Bow Powerhouse assisted with the effort to inspect Hugo Dam’s six spillway tainter gates, a low-flow valve and the sump pit.
Lake office staff are the primary gate operators and perform much of the preventive maintenance to keep gates and components operational.
“The project office provides materials and personnel to properly lubricate the gate systems,” said John Munholland, Red River Area Field Engineer, USACE, Tulsa District. “The project staff are the primary operators of the gates, and therefore the experts on recent issues.”
Social Sharing