This is the SECOND in a series of stories focused on the Lake Gladewater Dam and published in the Nov. 6 issue of the Gladewater Mirror |
Part 1: The Sky is Falling
Part 2: Regular dam inspections show ongoing deterioration
Part 3: Gladewater dam creates community’s sole water source
Part 4: Plan for the Worst…
Part 5: …Work for the Best
Part 6: What can you do?
Part 7: Aging dams become common problem for U.S. communities
Add’l: Lake Gladewater Dam (Landscape Ecology assessment by E. Simpson, Aug. 2, 2024)
Vegetation growing out of the Lake Gladewater Dam is one of numerous signs the 73-year-old structure is past its prime. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, more than 85 percent of approximately 13,000 dams nationwide are past their effective lifespan of 50 years. (Top) With construction from 1951 to 1952, the resumption of mandated annual inspections at the Lake Gladewater Dam the past several years has revealed ongoing deterioration both the concrete spillway and adjoining earthen embankment. (Courtesy photo by Gladewater Fire Chief Mike Simmons)
The good news: As of early 2025, the City of Gladewater is in compliance with state regulations for the necessary maintenance and monitoring of the Lake Gladewater Dam.
However, that due diligence revealed the extent of the bad news: After many years of sub-par preservation, annual inspections since 2023 have tracked the deterioration of the concrete spillway, in particular.
“We are seeing a steady progression toward failure of the dam,” Gladewater Fire Chief Mike Simmons told fellow emergency management officials and personnel in early October. And, later: “Based on current assessments of the inspection reports we have, we anticipate the potential of something happening within 10 years.
“It could be just one concrete panel falls off, and we lose a small portion. It could be the whole thing goes, the whole concrete structure. There’s no way to know until it happens.”
Prevention and preparation are the name of the game.
Simmons also wears the local ‘Emergency Coordinator’ hat as well as Lake Warden. Since he took the reins in early 2022, it’s been a personal and professional priority to get the dam back into the good graces of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Previous assessments put the Lake Gladewater Dam in the ‘high hazard’ category, but the lack of requisite checks and ongoing maintenance meant the community didn’t qualify for key funding until recently.
“There definitely is a gap. That’s what hindered us from putting in (for grants) three years ago.” After checking all the right boxes for several years and working closely with TCEQ representatives, “We’ve done everything we can to get back and caught up. We’re now in full compliance.”
A key part of that process was the development and adoption of an Emergency Action Plan for the 1952-year-old construct, a combination of an earthen embankment and concrete spillway.
It was the annual review of the action plan that brought officials from Gregg County, Upshur, Texas Department of Emergency Management and other agencies to Gladewater City Hall Oct. 9.
“We finally got it where it’s completed and submitted. We’re current in our emergency plans,” Simmons reported. “We just finished our annual inspection, and we’re waiting on that report to come in.”
Multiple times, he’s accompanied an engineer into the water for an up-close look at the dam’s weak spots, and there are plenty. From a 2024 Landscape Ecology assessment by Emma Simpson as well as recent observations:
• The slabs have settled, their joints no longer flush, water flowing in the gaps.
• Large voids have eroded in and around the structure.
• Vegetation’s sprouting from the concrete, rooted in spaces within and between the massive slabs.
• The face of the concrete has pitting and holes, several inches wide, as much as a foot deep.
• The wingwalls are pulling away, creating spaces behind them.
Erosion across the past three quarters of a century has eroded portions of the Lake Gladewater Dam, creating voids (large in some cases) within, around and likely beneath the structure, causing settling and imperfect seals of the massive slabs.
That’s just a sampling: “It seems like every time a big storm comes through we see another piece of this concrete move,” Simmons said. “We are seeing failure getting worse and worse and conditions starting to deteriorate.
“This next report is going to emphasize that we’ve seen changes in the past year.”
The last significant work on the dam occurred about a decade ago, when contractors injected filler into existing voids.
“I think we’re about four or five years beyond the lifespan of that patch,” Simmons said.
The earthen embankment portion of the overall dam is in ‘fair’ condition, but there are significant erosion issues. The downstream side’s slope is too steep to mow; regular spraying on both sides aims to keep vegetation at bay.
“But, it’s holding strong… We’re trying to control the weeds and all the stuff that make it hard to see any damage.”
From mitigating vegetation to uncovering the dam’s untested relief valve, recovering lost blueprints and updating flood maps, many key tasks have been checked off the list the past several years.
They don’t change the most significant, evolving problems at the dam, though.
“With the known issues we have in the current annual inspection, we are seeing a decline in the structure,” Simmons said. “We’ve got two different engineering firms telling us that. You’ve got to trust what they’re saying. It’s straight facts.
“Now that we’ve got those facts, what can we do about it?”
– By JAMES DRAPER