Environmental Project of the Year

Texas Public Works Association

2008

Lake Brazos Labyrinth Weir, City of Waco

Freese and Nichols designed a labyrinth weir to replace the gated dam which had not provided reliable lake levels. The labyrinth weir was built in phases over the existing foundation and without a major diversion of the river channel during construction. The design and phased construction were the subject of physical modeling by the Utah Water Research Laboratories at Utah State University. The $16 million expensed for design and construction costs were nearly half of early estimates for similar designs.