Augusta utilities ask SPLOST for $24 million to repair Augusta Canal gates and fund water/sewer relocations

Utilities Director West Bynes told the Augusta City Commission that the utilities department is asking the commission to include two projects in the proposed SPLOST 9 package: $12 million for canal drainage-control improvements and $12 million for ongoing engineering support for water and sewer line relocations.

Bynes said the canal work is focused on the bulkhead gate complex near Lake Olmstead — a concrete gate structure that, he said, was “built in 1939 by the Army Corps of Engineers” and serves as the head of the levee system protecting downtown Augusta. He said the steel gates there are original to the structure and show corrosion and concrete spalling that must be addressed to meet the city’s pending Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license requirements.

Why it matters: the gates control flows from the canal into the downtown river corridor and reduce flood risk to areas including the hospital district. Bynes described operations during storms as…