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Access across Boysen Dam will be temporarily interrupted

Media Contact: Bryson Jones 406-247-7674 bkjones@usbr.gov
For Release: Aug 30, 2022

MILLS, Wyo. Access across Boysen Dam will temporarily be interrupted as the Bureau of Reclamation prepares for and performs testing of spillway gates during the week of September 11, 2022.  

For several hours during the morning of September 11, a crew will set up a large crane on Boysen Dam. The crane will be used to place and remove stoplogs in front of the spillway gates throughout the normal work week of September 12 – September 16 to facilitate testing of the spillway gates. While the crane is being set up and while stop logs are being moved, access across the top of the dam will be restricted. During the week there will be periods of 30 minutes to 1 hour at a time when no traffic will be able to pass in either direction. Normal access will be restored by the end of the week. 

The placement of stoplogs allows the 25 ft tall by 30 ft wide spillway gates at Boysen Dam to be operated through full travel motion without large releases of water.  Although the gates are tested annually to a 10 percent gate opening, the full travel test is a routine operation and maintenance activity that is generally performed every six years to ensure Reclamation’s ability to fully open and close the spillway gates. 

Located on the Wind River near Shoshone, Wyoming, Boysen Dam provides irrigation, hydropower, flood control, municipal, industrial, and fish and wildlife benefits. Near Thermopolis, Wyoming, the name of the river changes from Wind River to Bighorn River. More than 60,000 acres of farmland in Wyoming receive their irrigation supply from the Bighorn River downstream of Boysen Dam. 

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