SACRAMENTO, California – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District awarded an $8.58 million construction contract July 28 to Macro-Z Technology Company of Santa Ana for the relocation and construction of a U.S. Forest Service administrative building and warehouse in Kernville.
The contract includes construction of a 5,500-square-foot administrative office building and 2,700 square feet of warehouse space. The existing USFS facilities currently sit in the footprint of the 300-foot-wide emergency spillway to be built between the main and auxiliary dams as part of the Isabella Lake Dam Safety Modification Project.
“This puts us into the construction phase,” Sam Winder, project manager for Isabella Lake DSMP said. “We are excited to move from design to actually start building something and mitigating risk at Isabella Lake Dam.”
Groundbreaking for the new facilities in Kernville is expected to take place in October with construction to be complete by fall 2017.
Completed in 1953, Isabella Lake Dam is located approximately 42 miles northeast of Bakersfield. The reservoir is impounded by two earthen dams on the Kern River and Hot Springs Valley. Today, Isabella Lake and its dams reduce flood risk for Bakersfield and the surrounding region, and is a primary water source for water users throughout Kern County. The Isabella Lake Dam Safety Modification Project will address overtopping, seismic and seepage issues identified with Isabella Lake’s Main and Auxiliary dams to reduce the likelihood of dam failure. Construction of the dam modifications is scheduled to begin in 2017.
Release no. 16-023