BLACKSHEAR, Ga. - A dam in Blackshear, Georgia, is failing following heavy rainfall Sunday and Monday.
The dam is located at the Lakeview Country Club Lake off Highway 121 and is owned and maintained by the Lakeview Golf Club.
“The dam’s getting eaten out and it’s just a matter of time now before it goes,” John James, who is on the golf club’s board of directors, said. Tuesday morning, the water in the lake had gone down significantly, reducing pressure on the dam and alleviating concerns of a catastrophic event.
A man whose home sits near the dam noticed it was compromised Monday night. While there were no evacuation orders, police went door-to-door Monday to alert everyone of the situation.
“If it had bust, then it would be the equivalent pressure of a seven-foot wave, five miles long,” James said.
Luckily, that didn’t happen. However, the dam is damaged and will need to be repaired or replaced.
James estimated about 20 yards had eroded from the dam as of Tuesday afternoon.
The dam is made of train tanker cars that are welded together and was installed in 1978. As for what caused the dam to fail, James said crews need to wait for the lake to drain more to go in and inspect it.
“See whether there’s a hole or if it’s a weld or something that’s come apart, then we can figure out whether we can fix what’s there or replace the [train] cars,” he said.
James said the lake is vital to the golf club, both for appeal and irrigation.
Depending on the problem, the fix could run from $20,000 to hundreds of thousands of dollars. James hoped to receive aid from insurance or possibly FEMA, but in the end, the club is responsible for the bill.
“It’s a small golf course, not a lot of members, so that would be a pretty big burden for the golf course,” James said.