LESSONS LEARNED AT DEADWOOD DAM

Deadwood Dam, a feature of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's (USBR) Boise Project, is located on the Deadwood River approximately 90 miles by road northeast of Boise, Idaho, and about 65 miles southeast of Cascade, Idaho. This article details the process of repairing the dam. Three important lessons were learned: (1) It is absolutely essential that the causes of concrete deterioration be accurately determined and addressed prior to selecting and applying concrete repair materials and techniques; (2) Concrete subjected to repair must be properly prepared if the repair materials are to perform adequately; (3) Concrete repair materials must be properly applied. Failure to seal the polymer concrete caps to the parapet wall allowed water to get between the polymer caps and the concrete and caused cracking in the precast segments.