City Accepts Bids for Lake Tyler Dam Repair

TYLER — The Tyler City Council has authorized City Staff to advertise for bids for the Lake Tyler Dam Repair project. Plans and specifications for the repair of the Lake Tyler Dam were originally submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Dam Safety Section for review in September 2013. Upon review, the TCEQ requested revisions to the plans. City Staff revised the plans and provided the results of computer modeling to the TCEQ for a second review on Dec. 16, 2013. Construction of the project cannot begin until approval is received from the TCEQ.

However, City staff can proceed with the pre-qualification of cutoff wall contractors and advertising the project for bids prior to receiving TCEQ’s approval. Therefore, City staff will receive submittals of qualification packets from cutoff wall contractors until Feb. 25 and anticipates advertising upon receiving plan approval from the TCEQ.

According to officials, the Lake Tyler Dam was constructed in 1948-1949, using the best engineering practices at the time. Due to the foundation material used in the original construction, it is believed that there has always been seepage along the downstream toe of the embankment. During the 2010 Dam Inspection, Tyler Water Utilities (TWU) discovered a boil (water transporting soil) in addition to the seepage. A weir was set up to measure the flow from the boil.

“This seepage is actually documented as far back as 1978 and has had no observable effect on lake elevations,” said Greg Morgan, director for utilities and public works. “The leakage flow rate measured at the weir is approximately 30 gallons/minute. At that flow rate it would take approximately 91 years to lower the lake elevation one foot.”