Photo Gallery
Video (in reverse chronological order)
Construction is almost complete!
Here is a video of roller compact concrete being placed when it is still light outside, right at sunset. You can see a little more detain that the videos below at night allow. We are now at crest elevation on the primary spillway. Just the abutments, training walls, and parapet walls remain!
Here's an idea of the scale of the project
We look at this project every day, and its grandeur is occasionally diminished by our familiarity of it. A change in vantage point makes a big difference -- what a great project!
Placement of the RCC at night
This is a video showing you what the placement of roller compacted concrete is like at night. The night crew works on this from 6 pm to 6 am every night.
Placement of coffer dams
We place coffer dams in the river in order to dry discreet portions of the riverbed. This allows our geologists to inspect the bed of the river to make sure there are no weaknesses or seams that would cause a problem, and to prepare the foundation of the dam by filling voids and irregularities with dental concrete.
High water
We cannot escape the challenges of weather on this project. After all, it is a construction site in the middle of a river. Although it presents a logistical challenge and costs us time, these events move through, the water goes down, we clean up the surface, and carry on.
Construction is well underway
Here we are setting the culvert. This will allow us to place coffer dam across the river to stop the flow over certain sections of the river in order to get the foundation of the dam set.
Site Preparation
Site preparation activities continue apace. We have assessed and prepped the bedrock for construction. In addition, we have begun placing the culvert in the river. This will carry the river flow during construction.
Demolition has begun!
We've begun mobilizing equipment for site preparation, demolition, and foundation preparation. Here's a fascinating look at this monster of a machine taking down the water treatment tank. I think it looks like a T-Rex.
Hurricane Helene
Hurricane Helene was tough for all of us, but the dam didn't seem to notice what all the fuss was about. It handled the excess water with grace and strength. Again, we acknowledge the incredible work of the dam builders in 1892.
High water after major rain event
On January 9, 2024, the river exploded with stormwater runoff from heavy rains. Based on our calculations, the river peaked at over 5,000 cubic feet per second. Normal run-of-river flows average below 100 cfs. This is the second time in three years that the flows have risen to this level. The Design-Build team will include design features to handle this type of event during construction.
Drilling hole B-6
Excellent quality rock throughout the drill program has encouraged the team tremendously.
Drilling for core samples
The team has begun drilling the bedrock to determine its quality in the vicinity of the new dam. So far, the results are excellent: solid granitic gneiss, 100% recovery, with no fault lines on hole #3. Perfect conditions.
First mobilization of equipment
Thomas Grading is placing riprap in the new roadbed as a base, with landscape fabric and crusher-run to follow.
The access road is complete!
First mobilization of equipment
This is the beginning of the access road for the geotechnical investigation. Our team will use this road to place a drill rig into the river to bore holes up to 30 meters deep to determine the best location for the rock anchors to secure the dam.
The Lake Conestee Dam
It's been a wonder of engineering, lasting as it has for over 130 years, but the time has come to replace it. This is the purpose of the Lake Conestee Dam Restoration Project. We are honored to be a part of the solution to this serious problem.
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