Upper Straits Lake Level Control Structure
Recent improvements increase safety and enhance lifespan of the structure
Upper Straits Lake is one of more than 350 lakes that are found in Oakland County, Michigan. It stretches between West Bloomfield Township and Orchard Lake Village and is surrounded by residences, roadways, businesses, and a nature sanctuary.
Upper Straits, along with her sister lakes, Middle and Lower Straits, are small, deep “kettle” lakes that are not fed by a river, but by rainwater and area storm water runoff.
In the 1960’s, the community petitioned the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner to have a legal lake level established for Upper Straits Lake. The Oakland County Circuit Court set the lake level at 930.80 feet above mean sea level. A dam was then constructed on the west end of the lake between the Middle and Upper Straits lakes, near Green Lake Road to control the lake level of Upper Straits Lake.
This structure consisted of two L-shaped steel sheet pile retaining wall abutments with an adjustable weir. It used wooden stop logs and a steel cap for water retainment, and technicians from the Commissioner’s office removed or replaced the wooden stop logs to ensure the lake level stayed as close to the legal lake level as possible.
In 2007, Spicer Group was hired by the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner’s office to conduct an inspection on the dam infrastructure. Spicer’s team recommended several alternatives for dam rehabilitation or replacement. It wasn’t for another decade, however, that the project would be given the green light.
“In 2017, we conducted an in-depth tri-annual dam inspection,” Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Project Engineer Jason Say said. “During inspections, we look at the integrity of the entire dam as a whole to make sure everything is working properly. This time, we found the dam in poor to failing conditions.”
Michigan’s regulatory agency on dams – the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) – then informed the Commissioner’s office and the community that with a failure rating, a plan was necessary to remove, repair, or replace the then 53-year-old lake level structure.
“The original structure itself was old and failing,” Spicer Group Project Manager, Kelsea Sutton, said. “We presented multiple options and Oakland County chose to replace the dam by installing a sheet pile structure similar to the original dam with some additions.”
Sutton said the original dam was partially removed before the remaining sheet pile was driven deep into the lake bed. Since the original structure had shifted from its location over the years, a new structure was driven more than 40 feet into the lakebed slightly upstream, and stop logs were again used to allow the water elevation to be fluctuated depending on the conditions.
The new dam also included a maintenance catwalk that allows safer access to the structure, per the request of the Commissioner’s office.
“Prior to this project, our lake level technicians would be using waders to conduct inspections or perform maintenance,” Say said. “We wanted to keep it at a better standard and higher safety precautions.”
Before
After
Sutton said the new lake level structure now allows the technicians easier and safer access through a catwalk across the top of the dam, along with other benefits. The new sheet piles are drilled down deeper, and the design allows the structure a longer lifespan than the original dam.
Spicer Group also assisted the Commissioner’s office with survey, permitting, gaining access easements, coordinating with West Bloomfield Township for the preparation of a wetland restoration plan meeting the requirements of the Township’s wetland ordinance, coordinating with the Oakland County Road Commission for the project’s utilization of Green Lake Road, and updating the county’s assessment district for the Upper Straits Lake district.
Construction on the project began in 2019, and Trojan Development Company, Inc. was the contractor.
“The contractor had a tight spot to work in and not a lot of wiggle room,” Sutton Said. “Green Lake Road is well traveled and runs right along the dam site. There is a pedestrian bridge in the area as well that couldn’t be moved, so we additionally had to work around that.”
With a substantial amount of communication and coordination with stakeholders, construction on the project was finished by the fall of 2020.
Say said the community and the Commissioner’s office was very satisfied with how the new lake level structure in Upper Straits was installed.
“We were very happy with the outcome of the project, and it is a beautiful dam,” he said. “It feels good and is a big relief because this was a project that took time. Now finished, it didn’t just improve the structure itself, but improved the surrounding areas as well.”
“We were very happy with the outcome of the project, and it is a beautiful dam, it feels good and is a big relief because this was a project that took time. Now finished, it didn’t just improve the structure itself, but improved the surrounding areas as well.”