Today at 11 a.m., the County of L.A. Department of Public Works will celebrate the completion of a massive, $100 million seismic retrofit of the Big Tujunga Dam with a special ceremony at the dam, which is located north of Sunland in the Angeles National Forest. The event will be attended by state, county and local officials.

Built in the 1930s, Big T stands as tall as a 20-story building and serves as a vital component of Los Angeles County’s flood protection system. The three-year-long retrofit project literally involved building a new dam in front of the old one and fusing the two structures together. The dam is situated in a spectacular canyon that was totally devastated by the 2009 Station Fire.

“After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the board of supervisors directed the department of public works to accelerate the dam rehabilitation program to make sure they were seismically strong,” said Supervisor Michael Antonovich in an email to CV Weekly. “With this $100 million modification and seismic construction project, L.A. County gives Big Tujunga Dam a new lease on life.”

Big Tujunga Dam and Reservoir is located at 809 Big Tujunga Canyon Road, in Sunland.