WDBJ7 Roanoke News and Weather NRV Lynchburg Danville | Gathright Dam receives potentially unsafe rating
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The Dam Safety Action Classification is concerned about seepage at the toe of the dam and a spring a quarter of a mile downstream.
"I can personally guarantee you that there's not any problem with Gathright Dam," says the facility manager Bill Siple.The Gathright Dam has been providing flood protection and recreational activities in Alleghany County for decades. Now, its safety is being questioned.
"I can personally guarantee you that there's not any problem with Gathright Dam," says the facility manager Bill Siple.
Siple has been working on Gathright Dam since it was built in the 1970s.
"I was standing here when the first truck dumped and when the last truck dumped and nothing is different," says Siple.
He says he was surprised when a review board gave the dam a potentially unsafe rating. The Dam Safety Action Classification is looking at all 610 dams operated by the Army Corps of Engineers and prioritizing which ones need funds first.
It's concerned about seepage at the toe of the dam and a spring a quarter of a mile downstream.
"This spring has been here from day one," explains Siple. "Their feeling is that it could possibly be related to the lake."
To make sure no water is in fact seeping through the dam, crews will bump up their monitoring efforts. The water level in Lake Moomaw will also be lowered.
Meanwhile, engineers will reevaluate the dam and see if there really is a problem.
It will be reviewed again early next year.
