ASHLAND - During its first meeting since November, the Ashland Area Municipal Authority board received an update about the planned upgrading of the reservoir mandated by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Part of the discussion during Monday's AAMA meeting involved DEP's third technical review letter on the project plans and the delays in getting the plans approved by the state agency, which has been a frustration for the AAMA board.
"On Feb. 11, we received the third technical review letter from DEP on the Dam Raising Permit Modification request," Jennifer M. Kowalonek, project manager with Alfred Benesch & Co., said. "They (DEP) requested a meeting the next day and (authority board members) Mr. (William) Kripplebauer and Mr. (Jerome) Schmoltze were able to attend on short notice. We went through the review letter and we were able to address a number of the issues fairly easily."
Kowalonek said the one issue that seems to be delaying moving forward is the spillway.
"They have concerns with the spillway's structural stability because of the way this new wall will lean up against it," Kowalonek said. "Their concern is that when we fill behind the existing spillway, the training wall would fall over. We don't have that concern. We never had that concern. We've always thought the spillway to be in excellent condition so it was never addressed in the design."
A training wall is built to confine or guide the flow of water.
"This core boring never came up before?" Lawrence Madden, authority chairman, asked.
"No, this was the first time this was ever brought up," Kowalonek said.
The authority is planning the DEP-mandated improvements at its reservoir in Butler Township that will raise the crest of the reservoir by six feet above its current height. The improvement will allow the reservoir to hold more than its current capacity of 110 million gallons during major storm events. The increased height will permit large amounts of stormwater to leave the reservoir in a more controlled fashion through the spillway instead of flowing over the dam crest, thereby increasing safety for areas below the reservoir.
The authority is also planning an upstream closure project at the dam in response to another DEP mandate. The Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority has approved a $650,000 low-interest loan for the project. The estimated project cost is about $1 million.
"Now they (DEP) want a stability analysis on that wall," Kowalonek said. "They also want core borings through the spillway slab to prove that you're founded on rock, because, theoretically, if velocities (of water) would change through that spillway and it was eroded, you would have a good foundation and it wouldn't erode into the embankment and cause a catastrophic failure."
Kowalonek obtained a quote from United Inspection Services of Jim Thorpe of $877.20 to conduct 10 core borings. Benesch has also developed a proposal for additional work, including designing a bracing system as an acceptable alternative to the full stability and overturning analysis requested in the technical review letter.
"If this (spillway stability) wasn't an issue three years ago, why is it an issue now?" Francis Menne, board member, asked.
"It is a question I posed and I didn't get an answer," Kowalonek said.
AAMA solicitor S. John Price advised that before any additional work be done, such as the core borings, a meeting be scheduled with DEP involving himself, board members and Kowalonek to go discuss the requirements and the repeated changes in the project plans that are not only delaying the reservoir upgrade, but could also jeopardize the PennVEST funding. The authority has received numerous deadline extensions on closing the loan by PennVEST.