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The city of Lexington is monitoring a sinkhole that was discovered at the base of Moores Creek Dam in late December and is regularly consulting with state officials and engineers on how to address the situation.
“There’s no reason to believe that a dam failure is imminent,” Lexington City Manager Tom Carroll told The News-Gazette in late January. “There’s no cause for alarm, but we are in the first phase of our emergency response. We want people to know that we’re taking it very seriously and monitoring it very closely, but we don’t have any reason to be fearful of a failure [of the dam].”
In the approximately six weeks since the 4-inch by 4-inch sinkhole – and the small but steady flow of water beneath it – were discovered, there has been no change in either the size of the hole or the amount or state of the water that is flowing. Carroll noted that the water flowing through the hole is clear (and has been since it was first found), meaning it’s not carrying any sediment from the dam which could indicate a situation where the dam’s integrity could be compromised.
Per the advice of the Timmons Group, the engineering group the city is consulting on the situation, the water in the lake behind the dam is being slowly drained at a rate of 6 inches per day in hopes of determining if the source of the water is the lake itself. Live-streaming cameras have been set up both over the water flow in the sinkhole and on the lake itself to monitor the levels in both. While water is still being released from the lake, inflow from recent rain and snow melts have brought levels back up.
In late January, the city conducted a test with eco-friendly blue dye – the same kind of dye that the city of Chicago uses to dye the Chicago River green for St. Patrick’s Day – in the water intake for the dam to see if the source of the water was in the pipes. None of the dye came through the sinkhole, indicating that the pipes are not the source of the water.
The city is continuing to monitor the situation. As of Monday morning, there have been no changes in the condition of the hole and water flow.
AT RIGHT, this 4-inch by 4-inch sinkhole was discovered at the base of the Moores Creek Dam during a regularly scheduled inspection in late December. Members of the Lexington city staff are monitoring the hole and water flow regularly for changes. ABOVE, as part of the effort to determine the source of the water flowing through the sinkhole, the lake is being lowered at a rate of 6 inches per day.
