City of Lock Haven Plans Urgent Maintenance for Keller Dam Ahead of Larger Spillway Project
By Emily Wright
LOCK HAVEN— The Lock Haven City Council announced plans to perform maintenance work on the Keller Dam spillway to tackle urgent issues ahead of a larger construction project scheduled for construction in 2026-27. This comes at the recommendation of City Engineer Consultant Mark Glenn, P.E., from Gwin, Dobson & Foreman, Inc., who emphasized that immediate repairs are necessary to prevent further damage in a letter sent to the city council this month.
During the city council meeting on Monday night, City Manager Greg Wilson elaborated on the repair work to be completed. “The Keller Dam spillway is the major project for Keller Dam’s improvement, and that will not take place until likely 2026-2027. In the interim, there is a necessity to do some resealing of the joints and to fill void areas,” Wilson explained.
Since 2015, inspection reports have repeatedly pointed out that the spillway— where water flows over or around to prevent flooding—has multiple joints (gaps between concrete slabs) that need resealing and voids that need to be filled. The joints are crucial, as they prevent water from seeping into and under the concrete structure. The reports also showed water flowing in specific areas of the spillway that could indicate potential leaks from the reservoir.
The continuous water flow into the joints has gradually damaged the spillway’s concrete floor. If repairs aren’t completed soon, this could result in severe structural issues such as slab erosion (the wearing away of concrete) or slabs being pushed out of place, making the spillway less stable and much more expensive to repair in the future. By addressing these issues now, the spillway can be protected from severe damage, which would need to be fixed before the DEP spillway compliance project scheduled for 2026-27 can begin.
The 2023 dam inspection report provided an in-depth analysis of these issues and recommended that the city complete joint sealing and void filling work in 2024. This early maintenance won’t replace the need for the Keller Dam spillway compliance project but will help maintain the spillway’s integrity until construction begins in 2026-27.
The city has already met with representatives from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), who inspected the dam and reviewed the plan for the temporary repairs. Wilson emphasized that the repairs are separate from the major spillway replacement project and are necessary to meet Keller Dam’s annual maintenance requirements. “It is part of regular annual maintenance. It’s not part of the major project, and so there isn’t any permanency long-term to the improvements that will be made here. These are bandaids until we get to the actual work, but they really should not be ignored,” he said.
Gwin, Dobson & Foreman, Inc. is currently developing a project estimate for the joint resealing and void filling work that needs to be completed.
