City of Rockford issued the following announcement on Jan. 7.
The Alpine Dam was built using Franklin Roosevelt’s “New Deal” funds. Since then, federal waterway structure standards have changed and the Alpine Dam is severely outdated. Currently, during flood events, City Staff walk along a rusty bridge to crank a large mechanism 64 revolutions to raise the dam gate every one inch. The concrete spillway is also deteriorated and underdesigned for current standards.
The Alpine Dam Repairs (Phase 1) is currently underway and nearing completion. These repairs include upgrading the electrical and mechanical components of the gate system. Now, City Staff will be able to monitor flood levels and raise the gate with the touch of a button remotely. The concrete spillway was also repaired to fix the fractures detected underneath the layers of paint.
As part of the FY-2021-2025 Capital Improvements Program, Phase 2, and the final phase of this project, will add a layer of concrete to the spillway, thus bolstering its structural capacity and add an earthen auxiliary spillway just west of the concrete spillway for an additional factor of safety. The dam is currently not a permitted structure by the federal government regulating Keith Creek. These repairs will allow the dam to be permitted and become eligible for future disaster and repair funding opportunities. The project utilized the City’s 1% Infrastructure Sales Tax funds.
Image Description: Pictures of before, during and after the Alpine Dam repairs, as well as the post text.
Original source can be found here.
Source: City of Rockford
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