Skildum Dam Repair

	Vernon County
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Skildum Dam Repair

The Skildum Dam was repaired in 2003. Highlights from the repair are shown below.

View of Skildum Dam, Bad Axe 24, located near Hornby Creek. Completed in 1963 at a cost of $58,000, it has a 1,030 acre drainage area. It is 38 feet high and 320 feet long, storing 159 acre feet of flood water (52 million gallons). The structure protects approximately 3 miles of stream corridor from flash flooding.

Heavy rains May 31 – June 1 2000 (8 inches in 6 hours) flooded many low lying areas.Part of the hillside above the Skildum Dam collapsed for (then) unknown reasons.

Flood water had leaked through the hillside and exited near the toe of the dam.

Flood waters behind the dam reached 28 feet of depth before the abutment leak occurred.

Drilling contractors were hired to investigate the hill side for large cracks. Poor working conditions hampered operations.

Geologists and engineers determined that the entire dam needed rehabilitation to safely operate during another major storm event. Here, a crane is used to lift the 38,000 lb. sections of pipe to separate them and replace seals.

The stilling basin/plunge pool was re-done with much larger rock to prevent erosion due pipe-full flow conditions.

Discharge from large pipes can be very violent and destructive. 48 inch pipe at full flow.

Upstream hillside was exposed, and iron pipes set into large cracks for injecting thin concrete (grout) into the cracks.

Grout was poured in a trench connecting the top-of-dam to the hill side to cut off water flow.

Deep holes were drilled into the hillside to allow grout to be injected under pressure to fill cracks.

Top-of-dam used as drilling platform for injecting grout into the abutment.

A safe outlet was created for any future leaking that might occur – not likely!

Support of Vernon County Board essential for funding the project: Final cost of $450,000: 65% Federal cost share, 17.5% State cost share, 17.5% County cost share. Completed in 29 weeks with no injuries.

This is a recent (spring 2006) photo of the Skildum dam.

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