Sometimes keeping things clean on the C-BT Project means being creative to get to those “hard to reach” spots.

Crews from the Collection Systems Department recently performed the year’s first cleaning of the West Portal trash racks with the help of a new articulated boom lift. The lift allows workers to stay safely above the trash racks near the entrance of the Alva B. Adams Tunnel.

Debris, primarily aquatic weeds, periodically clogs the trash racks and begins to affect flow capacity through the tunnel. This typically occurs when water flows from Shadow Mountain Reservoir to Grand Lake, as it did for much of the spring. During peak runoff conditions, however, flow will predominantly be from Grand Lake to Shadow Mountain Reservoir, and fouling of the screens is typically not an issue.

Later in the summer, when flow once again moves from Shadow Mountain Reservoir through Grand Lake to the Adams Tunnel, the screens will be more likely to be constricted, meaning the screens will have to be cleared more frequently through the late summer and fall months.