Prettyboy Dam
Location: Baltimore, MD
Owner: City of Baltimore
General Contractor: Brayman Construction Corp.
Value: $6.0 Million
Date Complete: April 2010
The Prettyboy Dam project consisted of the drilling, installation and stressing of 38 bar anchors and 12 midwidth holes underwater. The bar anchors ranged in length from 50ft to 70ft and to depths approaching 100ft. The 5.5in diameter drill holes were core drilled, water tested and redrilled before installation of the anchors. As part of the bar anchor work, Brayman also installed six (6) precast concrete cross-beams and steel brackets (wales for anchors). All underwater work was supported utilizing a certified diving subcontractor working from a barge platform. Other miscellaneous work included spall repairs, crack repairs and epoxy injection along the interior walls of the existing gatehouse.
The dam creates the Prettyboy Reservoir, which has a design storage volume of about 19 billion gallons. Together with the downstream Loch Raven Reservoir, the reservoir provides about 60% of the water supply for the 2.7 million residents of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Control of water flow through the dam is via a concrete gatehouse which is monolithic with the dam.