Rehabilitation of Lamar Lake Dam

Lamar Lake Dam is a 40-acre lake on the Camp Maxey (Texas National Guard) grounds near Paris, Texas. The 20 ft. high and 850 ft. long dam was built in the 1930s and is classified as a low hazard embankment. It appeared to have never had any regular maintenance, as it was heavily overgrown, suffered fi-om significant erosion of the upstream face, and had an unreinforced concrete spillway that was severely deteriorated. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) had deemed itunsafe from its deteriorated condition, though it did, however, meet the TNRCC’S flood standard of 25°/0 of the Probable Maximum Flood. Funds available for the rehabilitation of the dam from the Texas Adjutant General’s OffIce, were limited to $300,000. This created a need for a combination of creative solutions for the rehabilitation that upgraded the safety of the embankment within the budget, The rehabilitation consisted of several features, including: n Clearing off all the vegetation and rebuilding the embankment n Adding an internal drainage system, consisting of a geotextile composite drain and a sand toe drain with a slotted pipe collector n A new reinforced concrete spillway consisting of a 5 R x 5 fi. box culvert that opened into a rectangular chute that dropped into a standard hydraulic jump stilling basin n A 60 ft. wide grassed emergency spillway. A grouted riprap slope protection on the upstream face Construction was completed in the Spring of 1997 at a total cost of $296,000. 5 pp.