Central Texas News

Engineers of the Lower Colorado River Authority have completed a two-year project to replace floodgates at the Tom Miller Dam in Austin.

“We undertook this project to help ensure we can continue operating the dam safely and reliably for generations to come,” Phil Wilson, LCRA general manager, said on the LCRA website. “This was a complex project, just as it was to build the dam some 80 years ago. To remove and replace each floodgate at a working dam was no easy task, especially when the dam is in the middle of Flash Flood Alley and needs to remain operational throughout the project. This project was important to help maintain the integrity and operability of our critical dam infrastructure. I’m proud to say we completed the project safely.”

The existing outmoded floodgates at the dam, each weighing roughly 50,000 pounds, had to be taken apart and placed on a transport barge so they could be removed from Lake Austin. The new floodgates were made in Michigan and transported to the site.

Floodgates are used to remove pressure and water during times of flooding. The most used at one time at Lake Austin were five (out of nine) to drain the lake during Tropical Storm Hermine in 2010 and in the midst of a Halloween flood in 2013.

The LCRA operates the dam under a lease with the City of Austin for the benefit of its people and residents of Central Texas.