KREMMLING — The Colorado River District this spring will replace the main outlet gate at the Wolford Mountain Reservoir dam, located several miles north of Kremmling.

At its Jan. 16 board meeting, Colorado River District directors approved a $444,000 contract with Marine Diving Solutions LLC of Centennial to take out the old gate and install a new stainless steel one purchased previously by the district and being fabricated in Massachusetts.

A large, floating work platform will be assembled to hold a crane, divers’ decompression chamber, work trailer, diving equipment and the gates as they are removed and installed. The work platform will be assembled near the boat ramp from the eight- by 10- by 40-foot segments when the reservoir is ice free and towed to the outlet tower.

The main gate is in 100 feet of water when the reservoir is drawn down. This work needs to be completed in early spring to take advantage of the shallower reservoir depth.

Once the existing 17,000-pound gate is removed, the new gate will be installed and tested.

The work platform segments and other equipment are coming off another Colorado reservoir project and will begin showing up in the south end of the reservoir’s day-use parking lot near the boat ramp.

The project is expected to take five weeks once the work platform is assembled and be completed near mid-May. The majority of the day-use parking lot will be available for public use and the dam crest open for foot traffic during the project.