Skip to main content

Lynchburg, VA's College Lake Dam Removal Project Approaches Significant Milestone

Image
By

 

It's not often that you hear about the planned removal of a dam in an urban area, but that's exactly the kind of project that the independent city of Lynchburg, VA has embarked on. The city and the University of Lynchburg are nearing the midway point of a lengthy project intended to reimagine the Blackwater Creek watershed in the area of the nearby University, while also replacing a structurally-problematic earthen dam and creating a newer, safer alignment for the local highway that currently crosses it.

The existing College Lake Dam was built in 1934 and impounds Blackwater Creek to form College Lake, which has a surface area of about 17 acres along the western periphery of the University campus. The dam additionally serves as the embankment that carries Lakeside Drive (US Route 221) across College Lake and the Blackwater Creek. The dam itself was built of compacted clay and stands 35 ft tall and is about 300 ft long. At the east end of the dam is a spillway for Blackwater Creek that is bridged by a single-span concrete & stone masonry arch. Severe flooding of College Lake due to record rainfall in August 2018 overtopped the dam and nearly caused its collapse; this incident prompted local and state officials to consider the dam’s removal as part of a larger restoration of Blackwater Creek and updating of the Lakeside Drive corridor.


Above: The College Lake Dam is an earthen embankment that impounds Blackwater Creek near the University of Lynchburg to form College Lake
Below: The new four-way roundabout intersection at the main entrance to the University nears substantial completion

With the City and University in agreement that the safety and ecology of the College Lake area needed to be addressed, the first step in the construction process (which began in 2021 and is not expected to wrap up until 2024) is the construction of a four-lane bypass bridge to carry Lakeside Drive across Blackwater Creek a short distance downstream (north) of the dam site. As part of the bridge project, a new four-way roundabout intersection is being constructed at the east end of the new bridge in order to better and more efficiently serve access to the University of Lynchburg’s main entrance. Upon completion of the bridge in Summer 2022, work will begin on the removal of the College Lake Dam and the restoration of the surrounding ecosystem and wetlands to what local officials hope will be pre-dam conditions. Local officials are optimistic that this urban wetland restoration effort (which has a price tag of about $18 million) will not only provide ecological uplift and water quality benefits for the Blackwater Creek watershed, but will additionally serve as a model for future urban wildlife restoration efforts to be considered by municipalities nationwide.

The following pictures (from June 2022) of the old alignment of Lakeside Drive (US Route 221) were taken by the author of this post. Click on each photo to see a larger version.


The following ground-level pictures (from June 2022) of the new alignment of Lakeside Drive (US Route 221) were taken by the author of this post. Click on each photo to see a larger version.

The following aerial pictures of the construction site (from June 2022) were taken by the author of this post using a DJI quadcopter drone. Always use proper judgment and situational awareness when flying in areas such as this. Click on each photo to see a larger version.


Lynchburg City website devoted to the Project

Project-specific website for the College Lake Dam Removal PRoject

How to Get There:


Labels:
Location: Lynchburg, VA, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I-40 rockslide uncovers old debates on highway

By
The Asheville Citizen-Times continues to do a great job covering all the angles of the Interstate 40 Haywood County rock slide. An article in Sunday's edition provides a strong historical perspective on how the Pigeon River routing of Interstate 40 came about. And perhaps most strikingly, in an article that ran just prior to the highway's opening in the fall of 1968, how engineers from both Tennessee and North Carolina warned "...that slides would probably be a major problem along the route for many years." On February 12, 1969, not long after the Interstate opened, the first rock slide that would close I-40 occurred. Like many other Interstates within North Carolina, Interstate 40 through the mountains has a history prior to formation of the Interstate Highway System and was also a heated political battle between local communities. The discussion for a road that would eventually become Interstate 40 dates back to the 1940's as the idea for interregional high
2 comments
Read more

Interstate 210 the Foothill Freeway

By
The combined Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor of the Foothill Freeway is approximately 85.31-miles.  The Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor begins at Interstate 5 at the northern outskirts of Los Angeles and travels east to Interstate 10 in Redlands of San Bernardino County.  Interstate 210 is presently signed on the 44.9-mile segment of the Foothill Freeway between Interstate 5 and California State Route 57.  California State Route 210 makes up the remaining 40.41 miles of the Foothill Freeway east to Interstate 10.  Interstate 210 is still classified by the Federal Highway Administration as existing on what is now signed as California State Route 57 from San Dimas south to Interstate 10.  The focus of this blog will mostly be on the history of Interstate 210 segment of the Foothill Freeway.   Part 1; the history of Interstate 210 and California State Route 210 Interstate 210 (I-210) was approved as a chargeable Interstate during September of
Post a Comment
Read more

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

By
When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River.  Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207.   Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road.   The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune .  Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903.  The postal name was sourced from Bates Station owner/operator George Ba
Post a Comment
Read more