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Raleigh To Replace Dams

NC DENR

Engineers in Raleigh's Storm Water Utilities Department are planning to replace dams protecting some capital city neighborhoods.  Each project is expected to begin next year with costs into the millions of dollars.

Dams are used to hold back water from lakes in residential areas that could rise when heavy rains occur.  John Holley is a regional engineer for the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources.  He says there are several reasons for a dam's replacement.

"With a concrete spillway, oftentimes you have cracks that have occurred because the concrete is weathered and deteriorated..or perhaps you've had water seeping through joints and eroding away at the soil," Holley says.  "Those kind of conditions develop and get to a point where it becomes necessary to do something."

The Raleigh dams will be replaced with the help of money collected from fees charged to homeowners.

The American Society of Civil Engineers released a report that contains the status of dams in the state   As of today, the state's dam safety office regulates 3,404 dams.  1,154 of them -- or about 34 percent -- are listed as high hazard structures in need of repair.

Gurnal Scott joined North Carolina Public Radio in March 2012 after several stops in radio and television. After graduating from the College of Charleston in his South Carolina hometown, he began his career in radio there. He started as a sports reporter at News/Talk Radio WTMA and won five Sportscaster of the Year awards. In 1997, Gurnal moved on to television as general assignment reporter and weekend anchor for WCSC-TV in Charleston. He anchored the market's top-rated weekend newscasts until leaving Charleston for Memphis, TN in 2002. Gurnal worked at WPTY-TV for two years before returning to his roots in radio. He joined the staff of Memphis' NewsRadio 600 WREC in 2004 eventually rising to News Director. In 2006, Raleigh news radio station WPTF came calling and he became the station's chief correspondent. Gurnal’s reporting has been honored by the South Carolina Broadcasters Association, the North Carolina Associated Press, and the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas.
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