News

Buckeye Lake Plan Gets OK from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

By:
Posted on:

< < Back to

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The state’s effort to replace the deteriorated dam at Buckeye Lake has won key approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Columbus Dispatch reports Friday that the state’s Department of Natural Resources has been authorized by the Corps to proceed with construction at the central Ohio lake.

The 4.1-mile earthen dam is nearly 180 years old and has been weakened by several hundred homes, docks and other structures built into it. The Corps has concluded the dam is at risk of failing.

Natural resources director Jim Zehringer tells the newspaper that getting the needed authorization from the Corps typically takes months. But the state’s request for emergency authorization was granted in a week.

Work to replace the dam could start as early as this year.