This project consisted of the replacement of the obsolete roadway crossing of the Coachella Canal at Madison Street and Avenue 50, a branch of the All American Canal, which provides Colorado River water to the Coachella Valley as an alternate water source for farming and other heavy water operations. The design consisted of providing civil and structural engineering services to the City of Indio for roadway crossings and improvements to the Coachella Canal. This project involved close cooperative agency efforts between Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD), Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), and the City of Indio. Further complicating this project was a requirement to obtain all agency approvals within six months, so that the initial canal replacement project could be completed in the low-flow period of November to March.
Design elements included civil, construction phasing, and structural plans, hydrology and structural calculations for the diversion channels, and reinforced box culvert (RCB) crossings along the Coachella Canal at Madison Street north of Avenue 50. The double-cell RCB replaced approximately 300 feet of deteriorated concrete lined trapezoidal canal originally constructed in 1949. New construction was completed in only 70 days while maintaining the uninterrupted downstream irrigation water deliveries. Other structural features included rectangular channels with a center wall, warped wing walls, and “Stop Logs” to allow for periodic cleaning of the canal bottom.
