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Buckeye Lake Rebuild Begins
By: Associated Press
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BUCKEYE LAKE, Ohio (AP) – Workers have begun constructing a stability barrier in front of a deteriorating dam at central Ohio’s Buckeye 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 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concluded the dam is at risk of failing, and the state has kept the water level low as a precaution.
It plans to build a stability berm between the existing dam and the water by summer 2016. Officials anticipate gates could then be closed to allow a higher water level as a new dam structure is built.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources says the aggressive construction schedule means that workers will be on the project for 20 hours a day.