Construction |


Bluestone basin breakthrough


The US Army Corps of Engineers has completed the right-side stilling basin at Bluestone Dam in West Virginia, marking a major milestone in the US$960m dam safety upgrade and restoring dual-sided discharge for the first time in six years


Above: Water flows from the right-side stilling basin at Bluestone Dam for the first time since 2020. The completion of the right-side stilling basin construction marks a major milestone in the construction project of this dam. Photo by Anna-Marie Ward, US Army Corps of Engineers Huntington District


THE US ARMY CORPS OF Engineers (USACE) has reached a major construction milestone at Bluestone Dam in southern West Virginia with the completion of the right-side stilling basin, a key component of the ongoing Phase 5 dam safety upgrade. Announced on 2 March 2025 by the USACE Huntington District, the achievement represents a significant step forward in a long- running programme designed to strengthen the dam’s flood risk management capabilities and ensure its long-term resilience. With the completion of the new structure, water is flowing down the right side of the dam for the first time since 2020, restoring dual-sided discharge and marking a visible sign of progress on one of the largest infrastructure investments in West Virginia. The milestone marks a critical point in the Bluestone Dam Phase 5 project, which brings together years of planning, engineering and construction aimed at strengthening a structure that protects communities along the New and Kanawha river valleys. With the newly constructed stilling basin and divider wall in place, Bluestone Dam can now reliably discharge significantly more water than in the past, providing increased protection for approximately 165,000 people living downstream. “This is about delivering resilient infrastructure,” Col. Phil Valenti, US Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District commander, said. “The resilience and protection this project provides communities downstream is immeasurable. It’s about turning what once seemed impossible into reality.”


Long-term dam safety programme The current construction work is the culmination of


decades of dam safety planning and engineering. The programme originated with the completion


34 | April 2026 | www.waterpowermagazine.com


of the Dam Safety Assurance Evaluation Report in 1998, which identified the need for improvements to ensure the long-term reliability of the structure. Since then, USACE has implemented a series of upgrades through multiple phases of work. Phase 5, the final stage of the programme, began in 2018 with planning and design and is now approximately 63% complete. The total cost of all phases of the Bluestone Dam project is estimated at US$960m, representing a major federal investment in flood risk management infrastructure in the region. According to Phil Johnson, regional business


director for the USACE Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, securing full project funding was an important turning point. “This project is a massive undertaking and


requires incredible planning and partnering to keep the project progressing,” Johnson said. “We were brought to full funding in 2018 with the Bipartisan Budget Act and that allowed us to deliver this project sooner than originally projected.”


Engineering beneath the water Although most of the newly completed work will


remain hidden once the basin is fully operational, the engineering improvements are essential to the dam’s performance. The new stilling basin replaces fractured natural rock beneath the dam with approximately 10ft (3m) of reinforced concrete incorporating an integrated drainage system. Steel strand anchors are used to help counter uplift forces created by the pressure of Bluestone Lake. A newly constructed divider wall splits the basin


into two sections, collecting drainage water and strengthening the structure while allowing operators to inspect or maintain each side independently. One of the most distinctive features of the


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