Massive Wire Sawing Project at Hydroelectric Dam
Category: Dam Machining
Method(s) Used: Wire Sawing, Concrete Wire Sawing
Location: Red Rock Dam
This new hydroelectric facility is being completed at the existing Red Rock Dam on the river about two and a half miles southwest of Pella, Iowa. When the project is completed, the Red Rock Hydroelectric Project (RRHP) will be the second-largest hydroelectric generating facility in the state of Iowa and a significant addition to renewable energy. It will supply energy to nearly 18,000 homes.
Massive Wire Sawing Project at Hydroelectric Dam
Project Documentation

The Problem
The Red Rock Hydroelectric Project is a massive project and will help supply energy to meet the ever-growing needs of the customers served by the Missouri River Energy Services (MRES) along the Des Moines River.
The Solution
Two CSDA contractors, In-Place Machining and Advanced Concrete Sawing joined forces and were awarded the three-year job at Red Rock Dam to drill and wire saw several large openings as needed to run lake water into the new intake structure and through the two 2 new penstocks into the new powerhouse below the dam. This is quite a massive undertaking.
The Result
As CSDA contractors win contracts for more and more massive infrastructure projects, like this one, undertaken over multiple years, it shows the value of collaboration between contractors in the sawing and drilling industry and strengthens the notion that CSDA can help provide many of the opportunities for contractors to meet their colleagues and form lasting friendships and professional unions to win contracts of this scope. When this job is completed, 18,000 homes will have electricity provided by a facility that was retrofitted, in no small part, due to the work provided by two sawing and drilling contractors.