Many believe that summer is the busy construction season. Not for Oakdale Irrigation District and Condor. The Upper South Main Canal is among several capital improvement projects currently underway by OID. The improvements to the Upper South Main Canal will improve reliability and decrease seepage losses of the nearly 100-year-old canal that supplies a majority of OID water deliveries. The most recent phase of those improvements was performed over the 2009-2010 winter. The project included shotcrete lining of unlined canal and tunnels sections, improvement of existing linings in deteriorated areas, and new structural support of the canal in unstable canyon areas. Condor provided plans and specifications, resident engineering services, contract conformance review, and construction quality assurance inspections and testing.
The 2009-2010 $5.2 million project came in on-time and on budget, and is another example of successful partnering that Condor strives to achieve. The project provided unique challenges to evaluation and construction due to the timing of the availability of the in-use system, and because of the age of the historic canals and tunnels. The project has moved into another phase involving rehabilitation of other tunnels and the design and construction of a new, one-mile-long bypass tunnel. Through hands-on, responsive system evaluation and rehabilitation services, Condor has been able to help districts like OID eliminate costly replacement projects by rehabilitating existing facilities. For additional information, please contact
Scott Lewis, PG, CEG, the head of Condor's Tunneling and Water Supply Group.