Crews Brave Sub-Zero Temps To Maintain Dam
GRAND COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Denver Water workers in Grand County braved bitter cold temperatures on Tuesday to make important repairs to a vital part of the organizations infrastructure.
Massive ice covered the bottom of Williams Fork Dam as crews continued their daily work to keep it working properly.
"This is a 24/7/365 type of job. Any type of weather -- so that's 40 below, the coldest I've seen is 42 below," said Ryan Rayfield, Williams Fork Dam supervisor.
He says the best time for upkeep is always winter because of low water flows.
Recent work on a giant piece of the dam, a five ton metal gate, left crews exposed to the elements.
Crews had to get the gate off the dam and loaded to a truck -- a few hundred feet away.
The dam was built in the 1930's and a larger concrete section was added later on, but it's the first time in decades the metal gate has been taken out and refurbished.
Those same crews will have to be back out here at the end of February to put the gate back and of course the temperatures won't be any warmer.
Matt Kroschel covers news throughout Colorado working from the CBS4 Mountain Newsroom. Send story ideas to mrkroschel@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter @Matt_Kroschel.