Progress Reports and Schedule of Milestones in the LCDRP

The LCDRP is in full swing. Since October 2022, we have been working hard to prepare for the design process. That effort continues along with other supporting functions including, but not limited to, geotechnical exploration and drilling, construction permitting, NEPA review for federal aspects, field investigations to support construction (topo surveys, environmental site assessments, site access and security, et cetera), OPM procurement, EPC development and procurement, Design-Build team selection, and ultimately, construction of the new dam. 

Big picture: we expect this project will be complete in about three years (c. September 2026) 

We will continue to update this scheduling page as changes occur or milestones are reached. The milestones presented below are in reverse chronological order; so, tasks already complete are at the bottom, and tasks we are still actively working on are at the top.

We have begun preparing the site for construction activities.  We have cleared the entire north bank and installed stormwater retention controls.  The bedrock appears to be in better shape than we expected on this bank, but more investigation is underway to confirm this.  We are, as always, optimistic.  You can see pictures of the work on our photo gallery located here. 

We have also begun the process of demolition on the south bank.  This requires a bit more preparation, and a permit, as well.  All that is underway and will be completed before the end of the year. 

Finally, we have begun preparation of the stack yard across Spanco Drive.  This will be the control center of the construction process and will be our primary storage area for materials required during construction.  We are grateful to the mill owner for allowing us to use this area during construction, as well as the area on the south bank that we require for construction of our concrete batch plant.  Thank you, John!  

We have submitted applications to the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) for the permits required to construct the dam.  We hope to have responses from these submittals within a fairly short period of time.  Our current timetable is aggressive and optimistic, but it seems realistic to conclude that we could begin construction in the first quarter of 2025.  Fingers crossed, of course.  There are many, many obstacles in the path, and others may appeal the permit if they wish to do so (we hope no one will do this).  We will deal with such issues as they arise and continue to push forward with all possible haste and care. 

As we reported before, we have received some permits and will apply for others as we move through the design process.  We have participated in pre-application meetings with the USACE and DHEC and carried on with the work of folding regulatory requirements into the design requirements of the new dam.  The work to submit the remaining application materials for the various permits is challenging and voluminous and will take time.  Be patient, if possible.  We're working as hard and fast as we can, and we are well ahead of schedule. 

Kleinschmidt Associates, the Project team's engineer, successfully crossed the schematic design threshold.  Based on this, we prepared a Request for Qualifications (RFQ), which we published on December 1.  We reviewed the responses to the RFQ and selected the most highly qualified candidates to respond to a Request for Proposals (RFP).  These general contractors brought to bear their own engineering teams and provide a proposal to construct the dam.  The four pre-qualified teams are as follows: Kiewit Infrastructure (both engineering and construction); Morgan Corp and Schnable Engineering; Philips & Jordan and Freese and Nichols; and Sequoia Services and GEI Consultants.  These are all very well qualified teams, and for that, we are grateful and delighted. 

On Tuesday, February 13, we met on site with all four of the Design-Build teams to answer questions, allowed up-close observation of the project location, and received first impressions from the invitees. You can see new pictures of the site visit in the Photo Gallery (click here); note: it's mostly just photos of folks walking the site).  Three of firms presented their proposals and designs to the selection board on March 25, 2024 (one team decided not to participate any further), and conducted interviews of all three teams on March 27-28.

The competition was fierce, and with three exceptional proposals to choose from, we had an embarrassment of riches.  The margins at the end were almost imperceptible.  In the end, the Selection Board chose Kiewit.  We are now negotiating the terms of the contract for the design phase of the project.  This phase will likely consume the remainder of 2024.  

Kleinschmidt Associates, the engineer for the Project, and S&ME, one of our incredible partners, have completed the field work needed for acquisition of geotechnical data related to the construction of the dam.  This will allow them to evaluate the condition of the bedrock underlying the expected footprint of the dam, and to determine the best locations for installing rock anchors, if needed.  The US Army Corps of Engineers issued the permit to allow the investigation on July 24, 2023, and DHEC issued its permit for construction activities in navigable waters on August 15, 2023.  We obtained DHEC's approval of our workplan, put the drill rig in place, and have now completed the field investigation.  The drilling operation and the geotechnical team's downhole instrumentation concluded on October 28, 2023.  This allowed them to confirm the quality of the rock we saw from the drilling operation. The final report is complete, and the LCDRP team will incorporate the results into the design with the full design team once the contractor and engineer of record have been brought on board this spring.  Check out the photos at the Videos/Photos page.

Earlier this summer, we conducted a series of interviews of project management firms in order to build out the project team.  This will ensure the project proceeds in an orderly manner, and hopefully ahead of schedule and under budget.  The proposals from all finalists impressed us greatly, and choosing was exceedingly difficult, but we have made the selection and our now more robust team continues moving forward. This task was completed on time and on budget.

The budget has now passed the House, Senate, and Governor with $36 million included for the LCDRP.  We also have commitments from stakeholders in the amount of $8-9 million, and we will likely pursue federal funding beginning this autumn.  Stay tuned.  

The LCDRP team conducted a series of four workshops to review project history; establish project goals, vision for success, and strategy; determine the method of delivery; define project phases; review roles and responsibilities; and create a risk management plan.  The nature and complexity of the project required this series of workshops so that the team would be well-prepared for  success.  This task was completed on time and under budget.

The surveyors completed the topographical and land surveys of the dam and the surrounding site to create a digital surface profile compatible with AutoCAD Civil 3D that will be used by the engineers to lay out the project work in the Schematic Design phase.  This task was completed on time and under budget.

The environmental engineers completed the Phase I Environmental Site Assessment for the project in May 2023 on time and under budget.