The goal is to remove sediment that has built up in the lake.
Frederick, Md (KM). Work to remove the sediment that has accumulated over the years at Lake Linganore is expected to begin soon. County Executive Jan Gardner made that announcement during her public information briefing on Tuesday. “Since 1972, sediment has been building up in the lake,reducing much of the water that the lake can store. A significant amount of sediment can accumulate over 45 years,” says Gardner. “This has been evaluated and studies have found that upper reaches of the lake have lost as much as 65% of their water volume.”
The 209-acre lake is used as a major water supply by the City of Frederick, and a backup water source by the county.
The dredging will take place on Lake Linganore upstream from Boyers Mill Road.
Special Administrative Director Mike Marshner says phase one of this project is an evaluation of the options, which includes the removal and disposal of the sediment. That’s been completed, he says, and the county is awaiting permits form the Maryland Departments of the Environment and Natural Resources, and well as the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Marshner says the work will be conducted by Maryland Environmental Services. “At this point, we’re looking at, in the next month, bidding the project–or the Maryland Environmental Services bidding the project–and then going to construction in the fall,” he says. “Fortunately, this is a good time to be bidding, and we’ve actually had a lot of bidders interested in this project. They’ve been contacting us over the last several weeks.”
“So how does hydraulic dredging work? Well, it’s basically a barge that sits out in the water that goes around with a cutting head and takes the sediment out of the lake and pumps it to a place for disposal, In this case to a de-watering facility where it will concentrate the sediments so they’re almost dry and they can be taken out to the Reichs Ford Road Landfill,” says Marshner. He says the sediment is not contaminated and the landfill is expected to use the material as a cover at the solid waste facility.
The county says about 350,000 cubic yards of sediment is expected to be removed from Lake Linganore.
The project is could take two to three years to complete at a cost of about $15-million dollars. “The cost is being shared by three partners: The City of Frederick is paying 50%, primarily because they use the water as a regular water supply; the county is paying 25% based on the county’s use of the water as a backup source; and the Lake Linganore Association is paying 25% since, of course, the lake is important to their community,” says County Executive Gardner.
By Kevin McManus