Crews finish last of repairs to dams in Columbus and Bevill

Two years ago, heavy rain caused barges to break loose at Bevill Lock and Dam in Alabama and Stennis Lock and Dam in Columbus, causing damage at both sites.

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Two years ago, heavy rain caused barges to break loose at Bevill Lock and Dam in Alabama and Stennis Lock and Dam in Columbus, causing damage at both sites. Crews have now finished the last of the repairs.

Operations Manager Justin Murphree said now the dam will be stronger than ever.

“The water flowing around the barge created a large hole in front of the dam,” Murphee said. “There’s a concrete apron in front of the dam. It ate that away and created a large hole. So, since then, we’ve been repairing that hole”

1,600 cubic yards of concrete and 4,000 tons of rip rap later and Stennis Dam was fully repaired.

Murphree said these repairs make the dam stronger than before

“When it gets to a point, you’re in danger of it undermining the dam and actually water start going under the dam,” Murphee said. “We’re repaired to a point now, and after today, I think we’ll be against another barge collision.”

At one point, the dam was full. However, water levels have dropped.

Murphree said things could have been finished last year, but it wasn’t dry enough.

“Last year, we started getting the winter and spring rain,” Murphee said. “So, it’s really just now dry enough to be able to close all these spillway gates and make these repairs.”

Murphree said the dam having a hole in it did not impact travel on the waterway, and operations have been near normal during the repair.

“It hasn’t had any effect on the way we release water through the spillway,” Murphee said. “What we’re doing is a protective measure, but it hasn’t affected the function of the dam at all.”

Murphree said he’s thankful for the team that helped finish up the repairs, and he feels confident that water levels won’t impact it again.

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