Glenn Flint dam to be repaired

Thursday, January 8, 2009

The dam at Glenn Flint Lake will be receiving some repairs when the weather cooperates again.

The 30-year-old dam has a broken bolt in the sluice gate, which is used to regulate or modulate the flow of water. The busted bolt is causing the gate to stay slightly raised.

The current gate could be fully opened, if it needed to be, explained Kathy Deer, administrative secretary for the Little Walnut Creek Conservancy District. "It may not move as easily or properly as it should."

The Department of Natural Resource requires the gate to be completely down.

To fix the bolt and its bracket, Little Walnut Creek Conservancy District board of directors have called in a professional dive team.

Underwater Construction Corporation and its staff of more than 200 divers, supervisors and project managers operate from three regional locations in Connecticut, Michigan and Tennessee. UCC will bring in three experienced commercial diving contractors, most likely from Michigan.

They will retrieve and repair the gate valve in 40 feet of water. It is expected to take eight hours to complete the task.

Divers visited Glenn Flint in August to assess the problem and what it would take to fix.

UCC has proposed it would cost slightly more than $8,100 to replace the valve. The board accepted the proposal during its meeting on Wednesday.

Repairs are expected to begin when the lake is at its driest.

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  • I'm glad the conservancy board has the money to repair this problem. However, could you find a little more money in the fund to widen the boat ramp one car width? I have fished at Glenn Flint for over 25 years and until recently, the skinny boat ramp they have was full of pot holes. I usually buy an annual boat launch permit- which was 35 dollars or so. It just seems like a little of that money could buy a little asphalt.

    -- Posted by Rome on Thu, Jan 8, 2009, at 7:20 PM
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