Aiken County officials hope to have options by mid-June for County Council with how to move forward with repair and maintenance of Langley Dam.
The public is still unable to get to the dam or walk to the edge of Langley Pond because the area is still considered a construction site. Because of the ongoing investigation and repair of the dam, staff also have canceled several events at Langley Pond this year, including the annual Augusta Invitational Rowing Regatta.
With the help of the eight installed siphons, engineers were able to lower the pond, continuing the effort to fix what caused the dam to leak. A man walking his dog last fall notified the County that water appeared to be bubbling on top of the pond, raising his concerns.
Aiken County Administrator Clay Killian said crews are still trying to figure out whether there are voids in the spillway and the dam.
"We're trying to determine where all the voids are, which were created from 100 plus years of erosion," Killian said. "The siphons have been operating for about eight weeks, and this is probably the lowest the pond has ever gotten in a long, long time."
Killian told the Aiken Standard in March crews were sure there is a gap in the spillway, which is part of the dam's problem. The County also hopes to lower the Langley Pond's water level by mid-May to begin additional investigations on the dam.
"We still need to get the pond level down another couple of feet," Killian said. "We've been pumping like crazy just because we've had dry weather so far. As long as there is dry weather, we can keep lowering the water's level and keep the investigation ongoing. At some point, we will be able to develop alternatives to filling the voids or decide to do a major rebuild."
Maayan Schechter is the local government reporter with Aiken Standard. Follow her on Twitter @MaayanSchechter.