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January 25 2026 Vol. IV • No. 2
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Colorado’s Gross Dam Expands to Increase Capacity By Keri White CEG CORRESPONDENT
Gross Dam in Boulder County, Colorado, is undergoing a $565 million expansion, with the dam’s height being raised to nearly triple the Gross Reservoir’s capacity from 42,000 acre-ft. to 119,000 acre-ft. The Gross Reservoir serves the Front Range region of the Denver Metropolitan area along the Interstate 25 corridor, which includes the cities of Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins. The entire Denver Water system supplies 1.5 million people. The dam’s expansion is key to Denver Water’s long-term supply plan. Historically, there has been an imbalance in the northsouth water reservoir systems, with 90 percent of the storage in the south system and only 10 percent in the north system where the Gross Reservoir is located. This disparity leaves the water supply vulnerable — if there is a failure in the south system, the north system doesn’t have a sufficient water storage capacity to supply the entire region. The expansion is designed to mitigate that risk and foster a greater resilience in the face of climate-related events or other catastrophes. In addition, the expansion will enable the system to capture water during wet seasons and reserve it for future use. Before this improvement, excess water runoff flowed out of the area. As a dry, drought-prone region, Colorado was surrendering a precious resource. Originally built in the 1950s, the Gross Dam was always intended to be a three-phase project, with raises implemented over time by the system’s needs. This current phase involves building 118 concrete steps, which raises the dam by 131 ft. The expansion brings the dam’s full height to 471 ft., the width to 2,000 ft. and makes the Gross Dam the highest in Colorado. This is the largest dam raise project in the United States to date., according to Denver Water. Kiewit Corp. and Barnard Construction Co. formed a joint
Gross Dam was raised to 7,398 ft. before stopping for the winter, an addition of 109 ft. atop the old dam.
venture to complete the project. The construction process is complex and involved an enormous amount of material and work, highlighted by these numbers: • 2 million tons of aggregate processing • 230,000 sq. ft. of hydro-demolition • 1 million cu. yds. of site excavation • 90,000 cu. yds. of conventional concrete • 23,000 sq. ft. of wire saw demolition The raised dam will be steeper than the original version. Its base will span 300 ft., and the top narrows to just 25 ft. Each of the 118 steps is 4-ft. tall and 2-ft. wide. see DAM page 6
The roller-compacted concrete process on display at Gross Dam.