With construction of the new Lakeside Drive bridge and roundabout complete, the City of Lynchburg is taking on another major project in the area – College Lake Dam removal will begin in early January.
College Lake has been part of the community since the mid-1930s. Officials with the city of Lynchburg and the University of Lynchburg, owners of the lake, are considering its future after the Aug. 2 flood.
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Officials hope to reconnect the lake to Blackwater Creek while controlling large amounts of sediment behind the reservoir.
Erin Hawkins is the director of water quality for the Lynchburg Department of Water Resources and serves as the project manager. At the project’s town hall meeting last week, Hawkins explained the science behind the plan and talked about what community members can expect during the construction and restoration process.
In this file photo taken on January 13, 1970, Coolidge Lake was showing signs of another frost the previous weekend, with a blanket of ice and snow.
Jimmy Ripley
Built in 1934, the dam, which spans Lakeside Drive, created a 44-acre lake on the University of Lynchburg campus. On August 2, 2018, a major weather event significantly damaged the structure when it was inundated by floodwaters.
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“So, for those who may not be aware, College Lake Dam is a high-risk dam. What that means is that the potential for failure is high, and in that failure could cause loss of life and/or significant impact on public infrastructure and facilities.”
According to the project website, the dam no longer meets Department of Conservation and Recreation safety requirements, and if built today, it would be necessary for the dam’s spillway to be at least 12 times its current capacity or to have an armored levee that would not erode if overtopped.
During the 2018 storm, all residential and commercial buildings downstream were evacuated, Hawkins said.
Flooding at College Lake Dam is seen in this file photo dated August 3, 2018. The ancient structure nearly collapsed during a powerful rainstorm in 2018, when floodwaters severely damaged it and sent water upward. Removal of the College Lake Dam will begin in early January.
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Lynchburg-based English Construction is the contractor for the project and Resource Environmental Solutions, LLC (RES) will serve as the stream restoration team.
“What we anticipate is that in January we will be mobilizing and moving to the project site to prepare the area to begin work,” Hawkins said.
It expects the dam to be completely decommissioned by May 2024.
“What that means is that there will no longer be a detention structure across that river valley, or what will be a valley, and the water will be openly flowing through that area again and at that time, as we will no longer have the dam in place… we no longer have “The risk of overtaking or major failure.”
Work on the project is expected to be completed by December 2025.
Heavy rain on August 2 put the dam at College Lake in serious danger. Lakeside Drive, which is located above the dam, was closed for several weeks as officials assessed the damage.
Taylor Irby/News & Progress
Crews will remove sediment, connect creek tributaries and create a stream channel to reconnect with the river mouth. Hawkins said the best possible outcome would be if the site looked like there was no lake at all.
A University of Lynchburg graduate, she realized that losing College Lake could be “bittersweet.”
“But it’s really a public safety issue that we have to address here, and we’re trying to do that the best way we know how from an environmental perspective to protect Blackwater Creek, protect the floodplain, and try to create a stabilized area for this project.
“Although we will miss the lake, we are excited about the academic and recreational potential of the wetland ecosystem that will emerge in its place,” University of Lynchburg President Allison Morrison-Shetlar said in a statement.
Visit the project website www.collegelakedamremoval.org for details and maps. Questions can also be directed to Lynchburg Water Resources, available at (434) 455-4250 or 525 Taylor St. The project email is collegelakedamremoval@lynchburg.gov.
Emma Martin(434) 385-5556
emartin@newsadvance.com
The long-awaited completion of the college lake dam is quickly approaching, bringing with it significant changes to the surrounding landscape. With the dam’s construction nearing its end, plans are being made to drain the lake in order to finalize the remaining work. This process will undoubtedly have a major impact on the local environment and community, as the once thriving body of water will undergo a transformative makeover. As the project reaches its conclusion, anticipation and curiosity are building around the future of the area and what the drained lake will reveal.