Drs. Christopher Thornton and Robert Ettema along with M.S. student Taylor Hogan in partnership with Stantec/AECOM have designed and built a test model spillway for the Gross Reservoir in southwest Boulder County for Denver Water. The reservoir provides water to more than 1.4 million residents along the Front Range. The planned height of the dam for the spillway is to be raised to 471 feet allowing for the water capacity to increase by approximately 25 billion gallons. The spillway is a stepped spillway which causes the energy from the water flowing over the dam to dissipate – allowing water to safely descend. When completed, this will be the tallest stepped spillway in the U.S. Read More