A dam that helps one in every of metro Birmingham, Ala.’s primary ingesting water assets will go through an $85 million overhaul after years of leaking tens of millions of gallons of water every day.
The Birmingham Water Works Board (BWW) in mid-September authorized building contracts for paintings at the greater than 100-year-old Lake Purdy Dam in Shelby County.
The board voted 7-1 to grant a $78.7 million contract to Thalle Development Co., situated in Hillsborough, N.C., and $6.8 million in control charges for Arcadis, an engineering company with an place of job in Birmingham; Schnabel Engineering in Glen Allen, Va.; and Birmingham’s A.G Gaston Development.
“Our finish objective is to at all times be sure we’re offering secure, reasonably priced, high quality water to our shoppers,” Tereshia Huffman, chair of the BWW board advised AL.com. “This dam is outdated, and it used to be time for us to position in an intentional effort to verify we were given the investment.”
She added that the challenge will give a boost to the dam’s structural steadiness and cope with water leaks at its basis.
The Lake Purdy Dam used to be in-built 1909, and its impoundment of the Little Cahaba River created the reservoir in 1923. Six years later, the dam used to be raised by means of 20 toes. to deliver the lake to its present 990 acres simply above the confluence of the Little Cahaba and Cahaba rivers.
The construction is accessed from Lake Purdy Dam Highway with gated entrances on Sicard Hole Highway and Cahaba Valley Highway. Water launched from the reservoir’s spillway proceeds into the Cahaba the place it’s taken up by means of BWW’s Cahaba Pumping Station.
For years, regardless that, the water division has mentioned the desire for maintenance at Lake Purdy Dam.
In 1980, the construction leaked about 1.5 million gal. consistent with day, consistent with outdated BWW board assembly mins received by means of AL.com. The release hastily speeded up between 2018 and 2019, ultimately achieving about 7.6 million gal. day-to-day, the company’s data published.
On the time, engineers estimated it might price between $75 million and $100 million to rebuild all of the construction.
A failure of the dam would save you BWW from turning in water to the south finish of the town’s device, engineers advised the board in 2019.
Restore Challenge More likely to Remaining Virtually 4 Years
Plans name for the huge rehabilitation and service challenge to start out in November and proceed till April 2028. It’s going to contain disposing of timber and diverting water on the dam.
Crews are also slated to make 2 mi. of highway enhancements from Alabama Freeway 119 close to the Brook Highland group to the dam’s web page to fortify building site visitors.
Investment for the challenge comes by means of a $171 million federal mortgage from the U.S. Environmental Coverage Company (EPA) and used to be approved by means of the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA), a part of the Water Assets Reform and Construction Act of 2014.
BWW additionally will use one of the most cash to exchange lead provider strains that attach properties and companies to water mains. Doing so is a significant step in lowering the danger of lead publicity to citizens and companies, the company stated.
Paired with Inland Lake in Blount County, Lake Purdy is a key ingesting water supply for the Birmingham space’s 600,000 shoppers.
