CullmanTimes.com - Cullman, Alabama

Top News

Related Photos

  • Susan Eller, with the Cullman Economic Development Agency, discusses a document pertaining to property acquisition for the Duck River Dam as Assistant Director Dale Greer looks on. Officials have set a bid schedule for early 2012 for the reservoir project to begin. Amanda Shavers-Davis

    Dam project moving forward March 2012

Discussion

December 30, 2011

Duck River Dam project moving forward March 2012

Bid schedule set

By Trent Moore The Cullman Times

CULLMAN — After more than a decade of build-up, the schedule is set. Mark your calendar: Construction for the Duck River Dam will be bid out on March 27, 2012.

The $68 million project, permitted by the U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers, has been in the works since the 1990s. The Cullman Utilities Board is building a 640-acre lake with a 32-million-gallon-per-day capacity in northeast Cullman County. The new reservoir will work in conjunction with the area’s current water source Lake Catoma.

Phase I of construction will be advertised on February 28, 2012, with a mandatory pre-bid conference set for March 15 in the auditorium at city hall. Bids will be received and opened on March 27. Phase I mostly includes ground work and dam preparation. Any contractor interested in being included on the bid list can contact Susan Eller, with the Cullman Economic Development Agency, via e-mail at susane@cullmaneda.org.

“It sounds like it’s going to be a great new year,” Cullman Mayor Max Townson said.

Once bids open, Steve Newton, with project engineer of record CH2M Hill, said he expects a fair percentage of the bids to come from local or regional contractors.

“I think you’ll see, especially on phase one, a lot of Alabama companies, because that is just good old fashioned earth work,” he said. “That’s something a lot of companies do really well in Alabama.”

Phase II, which includes the construction of the main dam, spillway and intake, is scheduled to begin design work in March 2012. Phase III of the project will focus on the raw water pipeline.

But, before construction begins, the city has to finish the property acquisition process that has been ongoing for several months. The city has closed or signed contracts for nearly half of the 1,121 acres required for the dam. A total of 36 properties have been closed, and the acquisition team is working feverishly to finish in the coming months.

“We feel pretty good about where we are,” Susan Eller, with the Cullman Economic Development Agency, said.

Though no property condemnations have been pursued to this point, officials say a handful could arise before all the property is acquired.

Speaking at a recent utility board meeting, city attorney Roy Williams said the vast majority of property owners have been understanding when approached.

“Almost every one of them understood it was for the common good, they just wish it maybe could have been somewhere else,” he said. “But, they understood.”

Per the U.S. Army Corps permit, the city is also required to monitor water quality in the Duck River watershed. Tim Scott, with the Cullman County Soil and Water Conservation District, said tests show flows meeting all of the water quality stipulations needed to proceed.

“It looked really good, and some of the lowest readings we’ve gotten,” he said. “The December flows are also looking solid.”



* Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.

Text Only
Top News