Blue Ridge Dam is a 167-foot-tall hydraulic earthfill dam located in Fannin County, Georgia. The dam is owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and has a storage capacity of 68,550 acre-feet. The primary spillway consists of eight radial-gated bays with a 192-foot-wide chute. A LiDAR scan of the spillway chute identified potential vertical offsets at slab joints. RJH was retained to perform an inspection of joint conditions in support of a quantitative risk assessment for the dam. The inspection required a certified rope access subcontractor and safety training in order for RJH to access joint locations on the lower portion of the spillway chute. RJH performed the inspection in February 2021.
Following the inspection, RJH personnel participated in a two-day workshop with TVA to screen rehabilitation alternatives. The next phase of the project involves performing an alternatives evaluation for replacement of the spillway slab to identify a preferred concept.
