The Board of Directors of Fort Smith, Arkansas, has selected the expansion of Lake Fort Smith as its preferred choice to meet the water supply needs for the service area through 2040.
The lake was chosen from five alternatives evaluated by Burns & McDonnell, the city's engineering and environmental consultant. The current phase of the water supply study, which began in December 1998, is focusing on engineering and environmental studies at Lake Fort Smith.
The project will involve constructing a new larger dam overlying the existing Lake Fort Smith Dam and constructing a new larger spillway. Current guidelines for dam and spillway design require larger spillways, which in turn result in improved safety for downstream residents and properties. The new, enlarged Lake Fort Smith dam will be required by regulators to cause no increase in the 100-year flood elevations downstream from the dam. Lake Shepherd Springs Dam, which is directly upstream from Lake Fort Smith, will be removed. Material from that dam will be used in construction of the new dam.
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Scope of Work
for Current Phase
The project's current phase involves a combination of engineering and environmental studies focusing on Lake Fort Smith. Initial engineering tasks will identify two dam height and spillway configurations.
Additional hydrologic studies will also be performed along with preliminary civil engineering and geotechnical investigations to help identify an optimal dam height. Completion of this task is anticipated in June 1999.
Cost estimates for the two dam and spillway configurations will be prepared to help select the optimal dam height. Preliminary plans for these dam and spillway configurations are being prepared to better define impacts on Lake Fort Smith State Park. A meeting is planned with the Department of Parks in April to present our preliminary assessment of impacts on the existing park facilities.
During February and March, cores were taken from the existing Lake Fort Smith and Lake Shepherd Springs dams, as well
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