Buckeye Lake Dam Construction Update

We visited Buckeye Lake today to talk with Tim Ryan, Buckeye Lake Chamber of Commerce President.

“The construction crew has started what they call soil mixing, which is a seepage barrier going into the middle of the berm. They have gotten to about the 14th house on the west bank and using their numbers they have 370 houses so they have quite a few to go yet,” said Ryan.

Ryan said construction is behind schedule, but the work crews are now going from working 24 hours a day, 5 days a week to 24 hours a day, 6 days a week. This was implemented in order to secure the completion of the stability barrier in front of the dam in June this year.

Asides from the construction and work congestion in the Buckeye Lake Community, Ryan says the real issue is the struggles for the businesses in the area.

“Businesses are trying to play catch up and trying to do as many things as possible to stay alive and keep operating. We have lost one business that I know of, but other than that we are trying to keep the doors open as best as we can,” said Ryan.

With the construction of the dam, crews need to keep the dam gates open in order to proceed with further work. Ryan also mentioned that there is no timetable when the construction workers will close the gate on the damn, which could be problematic since the dam relies on the spring rain to maintain its operating levels.