Village II Dam, New Hope, Pennsylvania

Overview: Constructed in the early 1970s as a rock fill dam, the Village II Dam in New Hope, Pennsylvania stands 34-ft high and 350-ft long. At normal water level, 31.5 ft of water are impounded to form a scenic pond. GeoStructures provided comprehensive dam engineering and design services to upgrade the high-hazard structure and bring it into compliance with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP).

The Dam Safety and Security Act requires dam owners to maintain a current permit and to have a geotechnical engineer conduct annual inspections of the dam embankments, spillways, outlet works, and downstream areas. Over the course of a couple of years, correspondence with PADEP regarding certain deficient items allowed GeoStructures to prepare construction drawings and details for rehabilitation of the drop inlet, emergency spillway, and normal overflow channel.

GeoStructures also developed an emergency action plan (EAP) for this high-hazard dam in the event of a failure. The EAP document contained a monitoring program and response procedures for coordinating with emergency management agencies to protect the public. Accompanying the EAP was an inundation map of the borough showing the predicted flood boundary from an overtopping failure, as determined using dam break software NWSDMBRK.