THUNDER BAY – A $7.3-million refurbishment to the Boulevard Lake Dam has temporarily changed the Current River landscape.
The lake, often a hive of activity in summer months, has been drained, leaving just the original river meandering through the artificial lake bed, as crews race to get their demolition work done on the dam ahead of winter weather’s arrival.
Project engineer Mike Vogrig with the City of Thunder Bay, said the construction work, delayed several times by city council budget restraints, remains on target – although it won’t be fully completed until 2021.
It’s a huge project, he said on Wednesday.
“Portions of the dam are over 100 years old. Other portions were rebuilt in the ‘60s,” Vogrig said. “What’s going on right is there is either coffer(dam) removal completely or partial depth concrete removals that are occurring. That’s to facilitate new concrete pours and work that is happening.”
Additionally, workers are also bringing the structure up to 2020 codes to avoid potential damage should a natural disaster like a massive storm hit the city.
“Based on regulation, this dam has to have a set of tendons that run through it that anchors it to the bedrock. These tendons are tensioned after they’re installed, and what they do is they assist in holding the dam down against the water forces that are acting against it,” Vogrig said.
“There’s not enough weight in the dam to stop it from overturning in a big, big storm.”
The structure will also be modernized with the retrofit.
Vogrig said they have included mechanical gates, instead of wooden stoplogs, that will assist with the operation of the dam, allowing the city to more readily control the flow of water passing through the dam.
“The plan is, once this project is complete, is to automate it as well. It makes us able to be able to react a lot quicker if ever there is an emergency event.”
There have also been improvements for those who regularly use the walkway atop the dam.
“We’re widening the deck top to about three metres. I know there are chokepoints that were there before. We’re also adding some pedestrian aesthetic lighting to the dam, to light it up for the view from Cumberland (Street), and just for the users that are crossing it,” Vogrig said.
“Finally, where the gatehouse used to be, that’s actually getting knocked down and we’re going to put a seating area and we’re going to put some heritage items in that area to reflect the structure, how old it is and its history as well.”
The goal is to have the lake-side work complete this year, with the downstream work completed next year. If achieved, it should allow the lake to be refilled in 2021 and normal use to resume.
