GAINESVILLE – Repair work will soon begin on the Lake Knickerbocker Dam.
Lake Knickerbocker is actually a part of Lake Lanier. It became an entity unto itself when East Lake Drive was built, cutting off the most-upstream portion of Ada Creek, during the development of the Chattahoochee Country Club and surrounding neighborhoods in the late 1950s.
The earthen dam has been the topic of much discussion due to the enormous amount of siltation the 45-acre impoundment has captured, causing shoreline homeowners to call upon agencies from the Corp of Army Engineers to the city of Gainesville to help save the lake from completely filling in.
There have also been reports that the causeway serving as the dam needs attention.
At Thursday’s Gainesville City Council work session Myron Bennett, Water Resources Engineer, told council members that the time to repair the aging causeway had arrived, that bids for repairing the dam had been received and work would begin shortly.
Griffin Brothers, Inc. of Maysville was low bidder; their bid was for $3,074,107.
Bennett explained the project to the council. “We’re going to remove all the trees from the dam. Then we’re going to place riprap on both the upstream and downstream sides of the dam.”
Work would extend into the Lake Lanier side of the causeway Bennett said. ”We’re going to construct a headwall at the existing spillway.” That is where excess water from Lake Knickerbocker cascades into Lake Lanier.
To prevent debris from flowing beneath East Lake Drive and entering Lake Lanier, “we’re going to construct a bar-screen there on the upstream side and that’ll prevent debris and trees from possibly going over there and blocking the spillway,” Bennett explained.
Bennett said the cost is within budget parameters. “It fell within the cost estimate…there’s a lot of rock that’s going to have to be used on that dam. The dam is about 300-feet long.”
“And,” Bennett said regarding the complete removal of the trees lining the dam, “you really don’t need to have trees on a dam.” He said their roots compromise the strength of the structure.
Approval of the project is expected Tuesday evening at the city council’s next voting session.
