Water Resources

Location

Hemet, CA

Owner

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD)

Contractor

Kiewit-led Joint Venture

East Dam is one of three dams constructed for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California's Eastside Reservoir project. The reservoir doubles Southern California's surface storage capacity and provides a six-month emergency supply of water to nearly 16 million residents in the event of an earthquake or drought.

The 2.1-mi. East Dam, constructed by a joint venture led by Kiewit Pacific Co., a subsidiary of Kiewit Corporation, is the longest of the three dams. It measures 180-ft. high, 1,200-ft. wide at the base and 40-ft. wide at the top. Before embankment of the dam could begin, more than 18 million cu. yd. of alluvium had to be excavated to reach a solid bedrock foundation. The embankment required 43 million cu. yd. of crushed rock. An on-site crushing plant crushed and processed over 14 million tons of rock in 20 months to supply the dam's materials.

Kiewit Pacific Co.'s extensive equipment resources were a major factor in the project's success. More than 140 major pieces of equipment, including two 23-cu.-yd. front shovels, twelve 200-ton mining trucks and eighteen 120-cu.-yd. belly dump trucks, moved the nearly 73 million cu. yd. of material in 650 days.