Expect crowds to gather at two major dams on the Savannah River this week to watch the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers test their spillway gates.
The purpose of the tests is to ensure the gates that mitigate flood conditions are working properly, said Scott Hyatt, Thurmond Dam operations project manager.
“It’s a pretty spectacular visual event,” he said. “It’s our own little Niagara Falls to watch the water fall about 150 feet to the river below.”
The tests are typically performed once a year, but sometimes a year is skipped in the case of a drought or if the lake levels are low, Hyatt said. The last test was performed in 2022.
The first test at Richard B. Russell Lake Dam will take place on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. and will last for about an hour with all ten spillway gates opening two feet, one at a time.
The second test at J. Strom Thurmond Lake Dam will last about two hours starting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, with all 23 spillway gates opening one at a time to two feet.
Observers are encouraged to watch on Russell Dam Drive for the Russell Dam test on Tuesday and either at the end of West Dam Park Road on the Georgia side or the Below Dam Recreation Area, off Anniversary Circle on the South Carolina side for the Thurmond Dam test on Wednesday.
Since its opening in 1954, the dams’ spillway gates have only been opened as a result of flooding six times, Hyatt said. The last time this occurred was in 2016.
