St. Mary's River State Park Earth Embankment Dam

Client: Maryland Department of General Services

Location: St. Mary’s County, Maryland

Services: Geotechnical Engineering, Inspection

The earth embankment dam in St. Mary’s River State Park is 1,670 feet long, 38 feet high, and 16 feet wide at the top. The dam impounds a 250-acre lake and is considered a high hazard dam. KCI completed a dam inspection, subsurface investigation, seepage analysis, remedial design, and construction oversight for repairs.

KCI engineers conducted a visual inspection of the dam and identified needed repairs or upgrades. To aid in the evaluation of toe drains, a video inspection was performed, penetrating 187 feet into the pipes. Soil borings and monitoring wells were installed to explore and characterize the subsurface conditions under the dam.

To determine if excessive seepage was occurring through the embankment dam, KCI conducted seepage analyses using actual water level elevations, as-built geometric data provided by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and laboratory permeabilities. Engineers used the three-dimensional finite element software program SEEP3D to estimate seepage through the dam with various water levels.

Following the analysis, KCI recommended repairs and further monitoring, prepared biddable construction documents and provided oversight during construction.

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