COLUMBUS – With officials providing assurances they picked the best design, a state board has approved an $8.4 million contract with an engineering firm to design the 4.1-mile replacement dam at Buckeye Lake.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
The Department of Natural Resources received the unanimous approval of the Controlling Board to hire Gannett Fleming, of Camp Hill, Pa., as an emergency measure at its meeting on Monday.
Paperwork seeking the release of capital funds was submitted at the last minute to the Controlling Board, a bipartisan panel of lawmakers with a president appointed by Gov. John Kasich that approves certain state spending.
State officials announced last week they hope to begin work on the replacement for Buckeye Lake’s dangerously deteriorated dam before the end of the year.
Gannett Fleming, selected from among a group submitting proposals for the work, will design and oversee interim fixes to improve the dam’s safety and design the replacement structure, according to the state’s request.
A second-phase contract for the dam’s engineering will cost another $6 million, the paperwork said.
The nearly 180-year-old dam has been weakened by several hundred homes, docks and other structures built there. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concluded the dam is at risk of failing, and the state has been looking at ways to replace it.
State officials said last week the proposed design would use compacted soil and cement columns to create a barrier in front of the existing 4.1-mile dam to prevent water seepage.