Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Lake Lanier Dam inspection will cost $239K

TRYON—Town of Tryon officials were recently alerted that the inspection of Lake Lanier Dam, being required by the state, will cost $239,000. 

Tryon Town Council met Tuesday and heard from town manager Zach Ollis. Ollis said the town recently received the document for the engineers, which outlined the costs. 

Ollis also said the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is willing to work with the town on the timing. He said the town hopes to meet with DHEC officials after the holidays with the town attorney and engineers. 

Ollis said the grand total after engineering fees, and underwater assessment and surveying is approximately $230,000 for the inspection. 

“That’s not doing any work?” asked commissioner Bill Ingham. 

Ollis said no, and no matter how good the dam is, just because of how old it is there is a requirement to do an inspection. Ollis said the town is going to work with them and do not have to do it all super fast, as long as the town is making progress. 

A Lake Lanier resident asked if the town went out for bids and if this is the best the town could get. 

Ollis said the town got a couple of different bids from qualified engineers. 

“The cost of the engineering is not outrageous,” Ollis said. 

He said it is what the state of South Carolina is requiring the town to do. 

“It’s not cheap by any by any stretch of the means,” Ollis said. 

One of the proposals for the inspection is for Lake Lanier to be lowered four feet in order to look at the dam. Ollis said the water will have to be drained off for some of their inspections. 

Tryon Mayor Alan Peoples said town officials have a lot more questions than they have answers at this point. 

Tryon Town Council approved hiring Cranston Engineering out of Augusta, Ga. to do the inspection of the dam. 

The Town of Tryon owns the lakebed of Lake Lanier, which is located just over the South Carolina line in Greenville County. The town uses the lake for its water source. The Lake Lanier dam was first constructed in 1924.