Technical Development Overview for the

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Technical Development Overview for the Bureau of
Reclamation
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The Bureau of Reclamation has over 350 embankment
dams and 70 concrete dams in the Western 17
states. Reclamation laboratories in Denver,
Colorado include
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• Materials Engineering and Research Laboratory
  Group
• Test concrete, reinforcement, plastics,
  geotextiles, coatings, and other materials
• Large scale structural testing5 million pound
  capacity tension and compression
• Large-scale dynamic testing of concrete and
  structural systems 1 million pound capacity
  compression
• Structural modeling and testing
• Uniaxial vibration testing50,000 pound payload

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• Ecological Research and Investigations Group
• Environmental Impact Assessments
• Chemistry and Environmental
• Aquatic Ste Pest Management
• Reservoir Monitoring
• Riparian and Wetlands
• Water Quality

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• Geotechnical Support Group
• Soils and Rock testing
• Field testing
• Stiff testing machine 1 million pound
• X-Ray machine 300-kilovolt
• Large triaxial shear facility up to 10-inch
  diameter concrete core and 12 by 12-inch soil
  samples
• Ultrasonic nondestructive testing machine

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• Water Resources Research Laboratory
• Physical Hydraulic Modeling
• Numerical Modeling
• Field Testing

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• There are 2 aspects to technology development at
  Reclamation, namely
• the Science and Technology Program, and the
• Dam Safety Office.
• Typically, the Dam Safety Office funds dam safety
  related technical development. This development
  is intended to help accomplish the mission of the
  Dam Safety Office, reduce risks if necessary, and
  reduce some of the uncertainties associated with
  various aspects of

• Structural and Concrete Dams
• Embankment Dams
• Seismology and Geophysics
• Hydrology and Paleohydrology
• Risk Analysis.

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On a yearly basis, normally in June or July, the
Dam Safety Office requests development proposals
for the upcoming fiscal year from the Reclamation
staff. These proposals are then rated by a group
of engineers and prioritized. The prioritized
list is then submitted to the Dam Safety Office
and approved according to available funding.