Clear Creek Alluvial Ground Water Studies

Dr. West supervised the drilling, logging and testing of twenty-five water wells for Chevron's Clear Creek Oil Shale Project in western Colorado. As a subsequent part of this program, Dr. West designed and successfully completed a drilling program to define multiple zones of ground water occurrence in complexly stratified flood plain and alluvial fan deposits.

San Diego Emergency Storage Project, California

Dr. West served as principal geologist on the San Diego County Emergency Storage Project. His responsibilities included geologic and seismologic evaluation of seven alternative dam and reservoir sites designed to provide emergency water supply in the event of a major earthquake. Seismotectonic hazard studies included both deterministic and probabilistic assessments of ground motions from a variety of seismic sources. Geologic and seismologic data were used to rank the dam sites for permitting and design studies.

Roan Creek Dam, Colorado
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Roan Creek Dam, a 200-foot high, zoned embankment structure proposed for construction near DeBeque, Colorado, has been under study since the early 1970's. Previous geological and geotechnical studies conducted by various consultants disclosed a variety of problems affecting the feasibility of the project. MWW&AI was asked to review earlier geotechnical studies performed in the Roan Creek Valley and to develop and execute a geological/geotechnical program to select a dam axis for high-level feasibility studies. The resulting field program was designed to resolve uncertainties raised by the earlier studies and to recommend and evaluate methods of avoiding and/or reducing specific geotechnical problems. By analysis of geologic conditions in the Roan Creek Valley, MWW&AI recommended siting the dam so as to avoid the problems identified during the preceding studies. MWW&AI completed high-level feasibility studies for Roan Creek Dam and Reservoir in 1991.

Jordanelle Dam, Utah

Dr. West was asked to participate as a member on the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's project team at Jordanelle dam site (Central Utah Project) near Park City, Utah. At the time, construction of Jordanelle Dam was vigorously opposed by local special interest groups based on both geotechnical and seismic safety issues. Dr. West's inclusion in the project team was based on his experience in dam site geological investigations and his background in seismotectonic hazard assessment for existing and proposed dams. His responsibilities included detailed geologic and earthquake hazard analyses of potentially seismogenic faults on the right abutment of the dam site. Dr. West led a consulting panel consisting of Drs. Ralph Peck, Richard Jahns and Walter Arabasz, internationally-recognized experts in geotechnical engineering, engineering geology and seismology, respectively, on a one-day field trip of key geological exposures on the right abutment of the Jordanelle site.

Tarryall Dam, Colorado

MWW&AI was retained by the City of Thornton to serve on a consulting panel for a proposed 200-foot high, thin arch concrete dam planned for construction on Tarryall Creek in Park County, Colorado. Dr. West served on this panel as an expert in engineering geology, geotechnical engineering, and seismology. His responsibilities included review of the geotechnical site investigation program proposed by the City's design engineer, review of geological- seismo- logical data, and approval of the final report submitted to the City on completion of the study. Potential seismotectonic hazards were of special concern on this project due to local opposition to the City of Aurora's Spinney Mountain Dam also in Park County. Dr. West advised the City and its design engineer with respect to developing a coherent, defensible seismotectonic hazard assessment for the proposed dam commensurate with the stage of project planning.

Lake Las Vegas Dam, Clark County, Nevada

From 1988 to 1991, MWW&AI served as the principal geological consultant for construction of Lake Las Vegas Dam and Bypass Conduit System. Lake Las Vegas Dam, completed in May 1991, is a 140-foot high, 4000-foot-long, rolled-earth embankment dam, impounding a reservoir of 10,000 acre-feet. The reservoir is the focal point of the $2.5 billion Lake Las Vegas Resort development. A unique feature of the project is a bypass system consisting of two side-by-side, 84-inch diameter concrete pipes designed to pass flows in Las Vegas Wash beneath the reservoir and dam. MWW&AI provided geological and geotechnical services for design of the bypass system through construction of the dam.

Other Project Name
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Other project description.

Other Projects - Other recent experience includes geologic safety studies for existing Bureau of Indian Affairs dams in Oregon and Arizona and Bureau of Land Management dams in Colorado and New Mexico; state-of-the-art deterministic and probabilistic seismotectonic studies for USBR's O'Sullivan Dam in central Washington; seismotectonic hazard studies for Senac Dam and Reservoir, Aurora, Colorado; and seismotectonic hazard studies for the Upper Bear-West Fork Project in north-central Utah. Dr. West was an instructor in seismotectonic hazards for USBR's Safety Evaluation of Existing Dams (SEED) course.