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Fort Collins Utilities Completes Michigan Ditch Tunnel Project On Time and Under Budget

Posted on: Nov-03-2016

The Michigan Ditch Tunnel Project, an 800-foot, 96-inch rock tunnel bored through the mountain on the Michigan Ditch Road in the Poudre Canyon, was complete by the end of October. The $8.2 million project was finished ahead of schedule, under budget and with no safety issues despite the logistical challenges of working at 10,000+ feet in a remote mountain area.

The tunnel is an investment in the City of Fort Collins' invaluable water rights infrastructure. Until last week, trans-mountain water was not running in the Michigan Ditch due to an ongoing landslide that covered part of the ditch in 2015. The tunnel will allow full use of all water rights by next spring.

Construction began as soon as the snow could be cleared in early May and utilized two full construction crews who worked seven days/week, including weeks of round-the-clock shifts to meet the time constraint due to winter weather approaching.

The tunnel was bored through the mountain using a custom built tunnel boring machine and lined with wood planks and steel rings. Similar to a fiberglass lining, 60-inch diameter Hobas pipe was laid inside the tunnel and grouted in place. The capacity of the pipe will be approximately 100 cubic feet per second (cfs), the maximum water right.

Historically, Utilities has allowed public access on the ditch road for hiking, biking, skiing, etc., which also serves as an alternate route to Lake Agnes and the American Lakes Trail. However, this year the ditch road was closed for the spring and summer to all public access for construction and safety issues. Utilities worked with the Colorado Parks & Wildlife rangers for public awareness that the State Forest State Park was open and only a portion of the Michigan Ditch Road was closed during construction.

The City of Fort Collins purchased the Michigan Ditch system from North Poudre Irrigation Company in the 1970s. At the same time, Utilities built Joe Wright Reservoir to complete the trans-mountain water storage and delivery system to Fort Collins. About 1,600 feet of original 24-inch diameter wood stave pipe is still used in the system today.

For more information, project details, images and videos, visit https://www.fcgov.com/michigan-ditch-tunnel , email utilities@fcgov.com , or call 970-221-6809 or V/TDD 711.





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