Christensen Associates Inc

Christensen Associates Inc. (CAI) is a specialty engineering firm serving clients who plan, develop and operate hydropower and water resources facilities. 

Our clients include  Water Agencies, Irrigation Districts, Public Utilities, Electric Utility Companies, Independent Power Producers, Sureties and Financial Institutions.  They are responsible for meeting growing public needs for reliable supplies of clean water and renewable energy in today's complex  regulatory and  business environment. 

Owners of wet infrastructure also face the challenge of relicensing and upgrading aging dams, water systems and hydroelectric power plants to meet today's safety, regulatory and environmental standards.  Fortunately, upgrading often provides a unique opportunity  to increase system performance and to enhance environmental and recreation benefits.

Successful strategic planning, development and operation of water resources assets requires vision, determination and a small core team with the right skill set for the project backed by year's of practical experience.

We offer our clients the following benefits:

• Strategic Teaming - Best multidisciplinary team for your project.
• Unique Expertise - State-of-art hydro industry expertise.
• Experience - Invauable lessons learned from successful projects.
• Ingenuity - Innovative and cost-effective solutions.
• Value - Value-driven approaches to engineering and construction.
• Responsiveness - Personal attention of a small specialty firm.

Christensen Associates Inc. (CAI) is a specialty water resources engineering consulting firm with over 20 years experience serving developers and owners of water resources  and hydropower assets.

Our clients include:

• Public water and flood control agencies
• Irrigation districts
• Public and investor-owned electric utility companies
• Private water supply and hydropower developers
• Government agencies
• Financial institutions

We specialize in planning, permitting, development and operation of the following types of water resources facilities: 

• Watersheds and water reservoirs
• Dams, spillways, intakes, gates,  and outlet works
• Tunnels, canals, penstocks and pipelines
• Hydroelectric power plants
• Flood control projects
• Pumped storage and water pumping plants

Planning, developing and operating these projects  in today’s complex  regulatory and business environment is extremely challenging.  Successful owners are skilled at handling the many technical, environmental, regulatory and financial challenges that come with this territory.  Working closely with our clients we help them succeed by augmenting their skills and resources in the following areas:

• Project planning and management
• Water resources engineering
• Hydrology and hydraulics
• Site investigations and  feasibility studies
• FERC licensing and relicensing
• Engineering design
• Dam safety and rehabilitation
• Construction management
• Operations and maintenance

Key Personnel 

Success requires vision, commitment and strong leadership supported by a carefully selected team that brings together the right blend of expertise, practical experience, people skills and established relationships.

Collectively CAI personnel have accumulated over 1000 person-years of hard-earned project experience and maintain invaluable professional relationships with industry and regulatory agency personnel.

CAI’s project teams are “Strategic Teams” created specifically  for each project from our staff and associates.  This approach gives us flexibility to create the best team to meet the unique needs of each client and their project.

Each project team is lead by a project manager experienced in developing work plans, directing project work, quality assurance, schedule performance and  cost control. Services are performed by a team of staff and associates with as-needed support from our network of industry  experts. 

CAI maintains a network of industry experts  in specialized fields such as:

• Blasting and excavation
• Cavitation of hydraulic gates and valves
• Concrete technology
• Construction costs, construction management and claims
• Construction management and claims
• Electric generation and control system
• Fisheries biology and fish facilities
• Geologic and geotechnical engineering
• Governors and control systems
• Grouting of dam foundations
• Hydrologic and hydraulic modeling
• Materials science
• Mechanical equipment including hydraulic turbines, pumps, etc.
• Regulatory compliance
• Sedimentation
• Seismological investigations
• Structural analysis and finite element models
• Tunnels and underground structures
• Valves and hydraulic gates
• Water quality

We work with our clients to develop a work plan and select the best team for their project.  Please contact us for assistance in planning you project and building your project team.

Dam Safety and Compliance 

As our nation’s dams age, owners face the challenges of extending the service lives of these valuable assets for future generations.  This ongoing process involves keeping up with changes in dam safety regulations and technology while at the same time controlling operations and maintenance costs.  In addition, new FERC term limits for independent dam safety inspectors have mandated changes in personnel responsible for monitoring safety of hydropower facilities.

CAI provides clients with up-to-date dam safety compliance know-how gained on engineering design and dam safety monitoring of many large and small concrete and earthfill dams in the United States and overseas.

Through our extensive project experience, network of industry experts and ongoing professional relationships with regulatory agency personnel we help our clients to keep abreast of dam safety issues and avoid unforeseen operating constraints, compliance issues or facility modification expenses.

Dam Safety and Compliance Expertise:

• Regulatory compliance
• FERC Part 12 dam safety inspections and reports
• Dam Safety Performance Monitoring Plans (DSPMP)
• Probable Failure Mode Analyses (PFMA)
• Spillway PMF hydrology
• Seismicity evaluation and structural behavior
• Dam instrumentation
• Emergency action plans (EAP)

Representative Project Experience

• New Bullards Bar Spillway Gates - Seismic Retrofit , Yuba County Water Agency, CA
• Little Grass Valley Dam and Miners Ranch Dam - Seismological Investigations, South Feather Water and Power Agency, CA
• New Bullards Bar Dam Structural Monitoring, Yuba County Water Agency, CA
• Enloe Dam- Stability analysis and supporting design report, Okanogan County Public Utility District, WA
• Mayfield Dam - 3D stability analyses, Tacoma Power, WA
  
• Buchanan Dam - Stability analyses, Lower Colorado River Authority, TX