TRA Sets Short Term Goals for Repair of Lake Livingston Dam

 
Livingston, Texas-Surveyors have finished documenting the damage to Lake Livingston Dam which will allow engineers to determine how much material will be required to repair the severely damaged, protective rock covered face (rip rap) of the structure.

With the surveyor’s data in hand, it is expected that the engineers will complete the development of plans and specifications by October 14. This information will be passed on to potential contractors which have been able to examine the damaged structure. They, in turn, will develop proposals which will be presented to Trinity River Authority by October 21.

TRA’s Board of Directors will make a final decision before the end of October on exactly which contractor, or combination of contractors, will be selected to complete the repairs. At that point, TRA will be able to make an estimate of how long the repairs will take and how much the construction will cost.

How long it will take to receive the materials necessary for the repair is not known.  If rip rap is used to make the repairs it will probably come from central Texas, but it will first have to be shipped by rail to Livingston.

How the construction will be funded is yet to be determined. The dam is physically located in San Jacinto and Polk Counties. These counties have been declared disaster areas by the federal government which may make the repair eligible to be considered for funding via the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Lake Livingston Dam, constructed across the Trinity River approximately seven miles southwest of the City of Livingston, is 2 1/2 miles in length and has an average height of 55 feet. The dam is an earthen embankment with 12 tainter gates in a concrete and steel spillway. The earthen embankment is protected on the lake face by large rip rap (rock) which weigh as much as 3,000 pounds each.

The high wind and wave action brought by Hurricane Rita removed or damaged approximately 11,000 feet of the rip rap protective covering. As soon as the damage was detected by the TRA staff on site, they notified the emergency management coordinators in Polk, San Jacinto and Liberty Counties down stream of the dam that we would be making emergency releases from Lake Livingston and that flooding of low lying subdivisions should be expected.

The lake was lowered from its normal pool elevation of 131 feet above mean sea level to 127 msl. The lake will remain at this elevation until repairs are completed. How long it will take to restore the lake to 131 msl after repairs are completed is unknown. The only source of water for filling the lake is rainfall and runoff up stream of the lake. Approximately 15,000 square miles of the Trinity River watershed lies up stream from Lake Livingston.
 

For more information contact John Jadrosich, (817) 467-4343 or Debbie Bronson, (817) 467-4343