Back to the Utah State Aggies Newsfeed

Utah State engineers design solutions to repair nation's tallest dam

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Utah State University engineering student Phil Duncan, left, Michael Johnson, lead project engineer, center, and tech Andy Lee talk about a 1:50 scale model of the Oroville Dam spillway at Utah State University’s Utah Water Research Laboratory on Friday, June 16, 2017. The approximately 100-foot-long, 60-foot-wide model replicates the spillway in its current state and features the terrain conditions that were formed following the damaging flow events in February. USU engineers are taking measurements on various sections of the model to determine depth of flows, wave action, pressures, velocity profiles and more.

LOGAN — A team of 15 engineers, technicians and students built a model one-fiftieth the size of the spillway at the nation's tallest dam, replicating the crippled chute damaged by floods earlier this year.