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 labor intensive: crews lower and raise gates in a process that can take four to six hours and requires trucks, generators and a five-person team. He said that in order to replace the gates the canal must be dewatered and that the most efficient strategy would be a single dewatering event; his target for completing the gate replacement in one dewatering is about “30 to 45 days.”

Bynes said previous bids for gate repairs came in over budget, some work was put into bonds but not enough to cover the entire structure, and the current construction estimate includes a 15 percent contingency. He also warned that crane work necessary to replace gates will likely require removal of some trees at the Lake Olmstead trailhead, but said crews are attempting to limit tree loss.

On the second request, Bynes asked for a rolling SPLOST allocation of about $2.5 million per year (a total $12 million over the SPLOST term) to offset costs the utilities department incurs when Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) or Transportation Improvement Act (TIA) projects require water or sewer relocations. He said GDOT and TIA typically do not pay for water or sewer infrastructure and that contractors hand the relocation work to the city during roadway projects.

Commissioners pressed staff for detail and local context. Commissioner William asked how the utilities department is tracking recurring neighborhood flooding and where individual repair projects would be recorded; Bynes said service requests are logged in Cityworks, projects are put on a capital planning list, and the department will identify and prioritize hotspots for inflow/infiltration reduction informed by upcoming flow-monitoring work by a vendor called ADS.

Commissioner Schlandak asked how long the canal gate repair would take; Bynes reiterated the 30–45 day target if the work can be performed in a single dewatering window and said the city is trying to coordinate embankment repairs to coincide with dewatering in the fall.

Implementation and constraints: Bynes noted that work on the bulkhead is constrained by the city’s pending FERC license and that the canal’s hydraulic response is slow — changes at the upstream gates can take four to six hours to reach downtown — which complicates operational decisions during storms. He said the city has previously engineered the repairs, rebid when costs were high, and will re-bid as soon as it can because the work is “mission critical.”

Next steps: the SPLOST 9 process continues; the county administrator said staff will present a recommended SPLOST list to the finance committee and provide documentation to commissioners before a vote in July so the final list can be submitted in time for the November ballot.

Ending: Bynes thanked the commission for hearing the request and said the utilities department will continue to gather information and follow up with the commissioners on specific neighborhood repair schedules.