Tourist Park dam rebuild planned for this year

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MARQUETTE - The Marquette Board of Light and Power is evaluating two bid proposals to rebuild the Tourist Park Dam in Marquette.

Kirby Juntila, executive director of the BLP, said the board will likely award the project some time this month following a review of both proposals by consulting firm AECOM.

Prior to construction, the BLP needs approval of an environmental assessment of the project which the utility filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in September.

The BLP also needs approval of a construction application it filed with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

Juntila said some preliminary work, including site surveys, sounding for bedrock and establishing security fencing, will likely begin in June and the actual dam construction may start in July. The dam is scheduled to be finished by Dec. 1.

"It has been a long process and we're very encouraged by the bid proposals that we have seen. We're looking forward to building a new Tourist Park hydro dam," he said.

The project will likely cost between $4.8 and $5 million, Juntila said. He said rates for BLP customers will not increase due to the dam's reconstruction.

"We will be looking at some short-term financing, more of a cash flow type of financing arrangement to get it built. We will be trying to build it out of reserves and cash flow over the next three to five years," he said.

Juntila said the BLP has not established a refill plan yet, but it would not take long for the basin to fill back up.

"The basin is quite shallow so refill shouldn't take a great deal of time. Generally six inches to a foot per day is a rule of thumb that they use for filling or draining facilities to control erosion," he said.

The BLP will help develop a new beach for the city-owned Tourist Park campground, install a handicap-accessible fishing pier and do some bank restoration on the upper reaches of the river.

The dam was destroyed during the Dead River flood in May 2003. The flood started at the Silver Lake Basin when a fuse plug - an emergency water-release system installed the previous year - failed on the dam after several days of heavy rainfall.

The breach released 8 billion gallons of water into the Dead River and washed away the lake at Tourist Park.

Christopher Diem can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 242. His e-mail address is cdiem@miningjournal.net.