Center Hill Dam Projects to be Completed by End of 2019

The U.S. Corp of Engineers reports two projects at the Center Hill Dam will be completed by the end of the calendar year.

Project Manager Linda Adcock says work on a nearby saddle dam should be completed by September.

“We are in the final phase of the dam safety modifications. We are working at the saddle dam, which is an earthen dam that is east of the main dam,” Adcock says. “We are about to begin the construction portion and the foundation is completed of a concrete reinforcing berm downstream of that earthen saddle dam.”

Adcock says the project has faced a few delays over the past few weeks but anticipates the concrete berm project to wrap-up before 2020.

“This particular phase of construction has been delayed because of weather and and additional foundation work,” Adcock says. “We are expecting to start the concrete portion in January – this month – for it to be completed by the end of September.”

Adcock says another construction project will also take place in the coming weeks upstream from the main dam to reuse a site designated for construction equipment.

“Through previous construction, we added a lot of rock and extended a work platform for large equipment needed for that main dam,” Adcock says. “We are taking that area and re-configuring it, installing a boat ramp, and some parking areas. That will be known as Center Hill Recreation Area.”

Adcock says the new recreational area will also include picnic and fish-cleaning stations for visitors of the Center Hill Lake area.

“It should be a very accessible, nice park to use to be able to get into the lake,” Adcock says. “It won’t be ready for the 2019 recreation season, but it should be ready for the winter of 2019-2020 and the spring and summer of 2020.”

Adcock says other areas around Center Hill Lake previously unused or inaccessible due to various projects the last decade will also be revitalized for future use.

“It’s a contract to take care of various areas around Center Hill that were affected by the dam safety construction,” Adcock says. “It is a site restoration contract and we’re going to be filling ponds downstream that were used for storm water and water quality, and also restoring the lake access that was taken out of use for about 10 years while the dam safety work was taking place.”

Adcock says water levels at Center Hill Lake will return to normal operating levels at the end of the year with the anticipated completion of the concrete berm.