The Port Townsend City Council approved a $150,000 contract to assess the seismic stability of the Lord’s Lake East Dam in Quilcene.
The dam’s reservoir is Port Townsend’s …
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The Port Townsend City Council approved a $150,000 contract to assess the seismic stability of the Lord’s Lake East Dam in Quilcene.
The dam’s reservoir is Port Townsend’s primary water source, and a 2020 inspection of the reservoir by the Washington State Dam Safety Office rated the dam to be in poor condition to meet minimum safety requirements for seismic loading — or to handle earthquakes.
The agreement was unanimously approved by councilmembers during their business meeting last week, and the cost is a significant jump from previously anticipated costs for the seismic stability assessment.
Back in August 2022, the city approved a measure to hire engineering consultant GeoEngineers to assess the reservoir for $47,000, with $86,900 in potential funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Given the delay in securing FEMA funding, the cost has grown to $150,000.
GeoEngineers will perform a preliminary analysis of existing data, investigate the geophysical field, analyze and model field investigation data, develop slope stabilization alternatives if data indicates a problem exists, advance alternative designs, and develop a permitting scope of work.
The analysis work isn’t expected to be completed until June.
If a seismic retrofit for the dam is deemed necessary, it’s expected the project will cost an estimated $4 million to complete.
