AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Tom Miller Dam has new floodgates, replacing the original ones installed in the late 1930s, the Lower Colorado River Authority says.
It took 22 months to replace the nearly 90-year-old floodgates, and now the LCRA says they meet current engineering standards.
“We undertook this project to help ensure we can continue operating the dam safely and reliably for generations to come,” said Phil Wilson, LCRA’s general manager. “This was a complex project, just as it was to build the dam some 80 years ago. To remove and replace each floodgate at a working dam was no easy task, especially when the dam is in the middle of Flash Flood Alley and needs to remain operational throughout the project.”
The cost of the project was $10.8 million, and all nine floodgates were taken apart individually to be recycled. The new ones were made in sections, then fully assembled at the dam and installed. Each floodgate weighs between 40,000-55,000 pounds, LCRA says.
The dam creates Lake Austin and is built on property owned by the City of Austin. LCRA operates and maintains the dam on a long-term lease agreement with the city “for the benefit of Austin and the people of Central Texas,” LCRA says.
Since 2010, LCRA has spent more than $110 million in capital projects along the Highland Lakes, Lake Bastrop and Lake Fayette. The agency plans to spend $64 million more in dam rehabilitation and maintenance over the next five years.
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