Outlet Tunnels Opened For Repair Work At Oahe Dam

PIERRE, (KCCR) — The Stilling Basin at the Oahe Project north of Pierre is going to be more active than usual for awhile. The U-S Army Corps of Engineers has opened two of the extra outlet tunnels located west of the main powerhouse unit at the Oahe Dam. Two of the dams seven turbines have been offline for scheduled maintenance, however a third was shut down due to unscheduled maintenance. The Oahe Dam is scheduled to be releasing 27-thousand cubic-feet-per-second of Missouri River water. Of the 29-thousand cubic-feet-per-second daily releases, eight-thousand is being redirected to the outlet tunnels. An inspection on the Unit Two turbine is expected to be finished by Thursday. The Western Area Power Administration is working to complete repairs to a line outage. The line outage is limiting how much power can be generated from Units One through Three. The Corps of Engineers expects releases to return to the powerhouse and the outlet tunnels closed by Wednesday, depending on how soon work is completed.