Aqua Illinois Water Company has embarked on a key project regarding the water needs for the Danville area. According to Aqua’s Danville Area Service Manager, Bob Ervin, the company is looking to improve the Lake Vermilion dam…
”It went into service in 1925. And we, right now, we’ve just got our preliminary engineering study completed. And there’s a meeting coming up next month in Pennsylvania (where) we’re actually going to be kind of value-engineering that study to make sure that we’ve got everything covered,” said Ervin. ”And then we’ll select an option for looking at replacing the gates on the dam.”
Ervin was commenting on WDAN Radio’s News Makers Program.
The gates were extended in 1991 when the company raised the level of Lake Vermilion’s water supply by five feet.
Ervin says part of the existing structure at the dam will likely remain when the improvements are made…
”We’ve got 11 gates at the dam that we operate. They’re all automated, but they’re coming to the end of their useful life,” said Ervin, ”and we’re looking to replace those. Probably use the original structure – the concrete and some of the reinforcements there in the foundation – that’s part of the study. But the big thing is we know the wear and tear on those gates – they’re going to need to be replaced,” added Ervin.
And Ervin adds it is important to maintain the 3 billion gallon capacity of Lake Vermilion. He also noted that during a two-day period last month Danville received 4.9 inches of rain. It ranked as one of the top three rain events for Danville in over the past 30 years.
