Lincoln County dam may not hold up to future rain: Officials
LINCOLNTON, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Lincoln County leaders have concerns about the future of a dam supporting a small lake near High Shoals.
The Carpenters Lake dam is along Mirror Lake Drive in southern Lincoln County. On March 11, crews Lincoln County Emergency Management learned of a potential problem with the structure.
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Officials say an ensuing inspection of the dam at 9 p.m. discovered its emergency overflow pipe had eroded under Mirror Lake Drive in a manner that compromised the road’s integrity.
Upon the learning the issues, local authorities immediately closed the road to thru-traffic at 9:30 p.m. The N.C. Department of Transportation was notified, and installed permanent road barricades.
LCEM also notified the N.C. Emergency Management regarding the concerns. The incident was deemed as a Priority 1 incident by NCEM until further investigation by the Department of Environmental Quality.
The next morning, NCDENR’s Dam Safety team conducted an inspection at 11 a.m., and they told county officials that the dam is not in immediate danger of failure.
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NCDENR Dam Safety is contacting the owner to recommend immediate actions to mitigate further degradation of dam structure. The department is concerned additional rains or flooding could potentially weaken the dam structure causing a dam failure.
County officials noted the outflow drainage has the potential to impact properties in Lincoln and Gaston counties. They are notifying potentially affected property owners in Lincoln County south of Mirror Lake Road.
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