Crews Work To Repair Lake Decatur Dam

The latest round of work on the Lake Decatur dam is underway and will include a barrier aimed at keeping invasive Asian carp at bay.

The $4 million project is set to be finished by fall 2014.

The (Decatur) Herald & Review reports the first phase of the project was completed in 2011.

The latest round of work includes fixing concrete and repairing erosion damage. Meanwhile, crews will also remove a failed tailwater dam, which was built more than a century ago.

Keith Alexander is director of water management in Decatur.

He says replacing the entire Lake Decatur dam would cost more than $60 million, so it's more cost-efficient for crews to do ``preventative maintenance'' work every five to 15 years.