From the USACE Sacramento District – In early 2020, while the rest of the Sacramento region headed to their homes to ride out the COVID-19 pandemic, a long line of construction equipment under contract by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District was instead heading to the jobsite. The first of eight dikes bolstering the west and south shores of Folsom Lake, Dike 8, gradually rose three and a half feet at the southern tip of the lake. Contracted workers donned safety vests, boots, and something new—the face mask—while work continued on Dike 8. “Weather doesn’t take off days,” said Gerry Slattery, Folsom Dam Raise program manager with the Sacramento District. “We realized we could ensure worker safety while continuing to advance this key piece of flood infrastructure. So that’s what we did.” Folsom Dam is not just one structure; it’s made up of a main dam, two wing dams (left and right), the Mormon Island Auxiliary Dam, and the eight dikes. Dike 8 was the first of all this infrastructure to be raised 3.5 feet, but far from the last. All of these components are scheduled to undergo a similar raise by 2027. And before the dike work, there was the emergency spillway—a joint federal project spearheaded by the Bureau of Reclamation as well as USACE. “This work builds on the success of the Joint Federal Project by allowing larger flood events to be managed without overtopping downstream levees,” said Slattery. (more)