Corps of Engineers will temporarily cut Baldhill Dam flows to conduct periodic safety inspection

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, will complete a periodic inspection of Baldhill Dam, located northeast of Valley City, N.D., early next week.

The Corps will reduce outflows from 850 cubic feet per second, or cfs, to around 13 cfs next week in order to dewater the stilling basin. Once dewatered, engineers will inspect the structure. The Corps will hold the outflow at 13 cfs for the time needed to complete the inspection, which typically takes 24 to 48 hours. The Corps plans to return the dam to normal outflows by Wednesday, Aug. 21. 

The Corps’ comprehensive periodic inspections are performed every five years as part of its dam safety program. Routine or annual inspections are conducted at the site each year but do not involve dewatering the stilling basin.

The nearly 700 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, employees working at more than 40 sites in five upper-Midwest states serve the American public in the areas of environmental enhancement, navigation, flood damage reduction, water and wetlands regulation, recreation sites and disaster response. Through the Corps’ Fiscal Year 2011 $175 million budget, nearly 2,800 non-Corps jobs were added to the regional economy as well as $271 million to the national economy. For more information, see www.mvp.usace.army.mil.

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