Efficient, Safe, and Durable Infrastructure

Dams, reservoirs, and hydroelectric power plants are a critical part of our country’s infrastructure—maintaining their safety, compliance, and efficiency is crucial for the long-term success of these important assets.

Providing multiple benefits to public and private interests, dams and reservoirs also are accompanied by substantial and varied degrees of risk. Hydroelectric power plants are the dependable backbone of the power grid and the most reliable renewable generation source possible, but they require specialized engineering and regulatory support to maintain their performance and compliance.

While dams, reservoirs, and hydroelectric plants are often out of sight and mind, the general public doesn’t tend to focus on them until a disaster occurs. But at Morrison-Maierle, we can provide the expertise and resources to ensure these critical facilities serve the public faithfully for decades to come.

Services

  • Dam safety inspections and analysis

  • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) independent consultant for periodic inspections, part 12D inspections

  • Subject Matter Expert (SME) participation for FERC comprehensive assessments and level 2 risk analysis

  • Potential Failure Mode Analysis (PFMA) facilitation

  • Supporting Technical Information (STI) updates and analyses

  • Emergency Action Plan (EAP) updates

  • Dam failure analysis and inundation mapping

  • Hydraulic and hydrologic studies including Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) studies and Inflow Design Flood (IDF) determinations

  • Feasibility studies and alternatives analysis

  • Dam repair and upgrade engineering including concrete rehabilitation, structural analysis and design, spillway and low-level outlet gate installation, and powerhouse improvements and upgrades

  • Local, state, and federal permitting and compliance work

  • Dam equipment and parts fabrication inspections

Capabilities, Project Profiles, and More

Dams, reservoirs, and hydroelectric plants are often out of sight, out of mind for the public, only drawing attention after a disaster occurs. But at Morrison-Maierle, we can provide the consistent attention these structures need to ensure they serve the public reliably for decades to come.

Related Projects

Thompson Falls Radial Gates

Thompson Falls, Montana

NorthWestern Energy hired Morrison-Maierle to develop a plan to increase gated spillway flow capacity on the main dam at the Thompson Falls Hydroelectric Project.

Morony Dam Spillway Modifications

Cascade County, Montana

Due to ice buildup, the radial gates on the Morony Dam spillway were not operating correctly in the winter. Morrison-Maierle designed new vertical lift gates with an internal heating system.

Madison Hydroelectric Plant Powerhouse

McAllister, Montana

Morrison-Maierle was the design engineer for the civil improvements to replace the 4 original 100-year old turbine and generator units at the Madison Hydroelectric Plant Powerhouse.

Holter Dam Spillway Concrete Repair

Wolf Creek, Montana

NorthWestern Energy hired Morrison-Maierle to help with the Holter Dam’s spillway concrete repair. Holter Dam is a 1,364-foot-long and 124-foot-high concrete embankment dam on the Missouri River.

Flower Creek Dam

Libby, Montana

Morrison-Maierle’s new Flower Creek Dam project allows the City of Libby to control the level of the reservoir that helps protect downstream fish habitat with a simplified operation.

Hauser Dam

Helena, Montana

The Hauser Dam project required surveying the space and replacing its old horizontally-designed turbine with a new vertically-designed version in the powerhouse that was built in the early 1900s.

Jocko Area Canal Conversion

Arlee, Montana

Morrison-Maierle designed the first two phases of the Jocko Area Canal Conversion pipeline project. The pipeline design consisted of over 110,000 linear feet of pipeline ranging from 48-inch diameter

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