2012 Award of Merit
Civil Works/Infrastructure Category
Provo Reservoir Canal Enclosure
North Central Utah
This project fully enclosed a century-old, open-channel canal, known locally as the Murdock Canal, within a 126-in.-dia steel pipeline. The canal snakes its way along the eastern bench of northern Utah County, just south of the Salt Lake Valley. It has been delivering water since 1911.
The 21-mile-long project enhances public safety and will help to meet the growing water needs of the Wasatch Front. The new pipeline pulls water from the Provo River at the Murdock Diversion and can carry up to 550 cu ft of water a second, or 400 million gallons a day.
Enclosing the canal will save an estimated 8,000 acre ft of water a year and increase flows in tributaries of the Provo River. It also helps preserve several of the area's endangered fish species.
Key Players
Owner: Provo River Water Users Association & Bureau of Reclamation, Pleasant Grove, Utah
General Contractor: Ames Construction, West Valley City, Utah
Civil Engineer: CH2M HILL, Sacramento, Calif.
Structural & MEP Engineer: CH2M HILL, Salt Lake City
Submitted by Northwest Pipe Co.
