Thornton Composite Quarry Monitoring
Specialties: Surveying
Details
Years:
2024 - 2027 (est.)
Location: Thornton, IL
TERRA is working as a subconsultant to Stantec for monitoring of the dam and reservoir walls, performing annual and fill event monitoring to ensure structural stability of this important piece of stormwater management. Because of the near-vertical faces of both the north and main lobes along the embankment carrying the Bishop Ford Expressway, aerial LiDAR was a logical choice for inspecting the Gap Dam and the anchors within the vertical faces, utilizing both LiDAR and thermal imaging, along with using LiDAR to create a point cloud for a snapshot in time that can be used for comparison to future conditions.
The Thornton Reservoir was constructed in two stages after authority was given to the District. The first stage, a temporary flood control reservoir called the Thornton Transitional Reservoir (TTR), was completed in March 2003 in the West Lobe of the Thornton Quarry. This reservoir provided overbank flood relief for 9 communities and captured more than 58 billion gallons of flood water during 83 fill events. The second stage is a permanent combined reservoir, called the Thornton Composite Reservoir (TCR), constructed in the North Lobe of the Thornton Quarry. The Thornton Composite Reservoir provides 7.9 billion gallons of storage; 4.8 billion gallons for water collected via the Calumet TARP Tunnels and 3.1 billion gallons for Thorn Creek overflow floodwaters. The Thorn Creek Overflow Tunnel was connected to the TCR in September 2022 as the TTR was decommissioned, completing the TCR.
The Thornton Composite Reservoir benefits 556,000 people in 14 communities. Since becoming operational, the TCR has prevented almost 62 billion gallons of combined sewage from entering the waterways.
