The Huntington District held a Ribbon cutting Ceremony for the Zoar Levee Project in Zoar, Ohio.
Zoar Levee was constructed as part of the Dover Dam project and completed in November 1937. The levee protects historic Zoar Village, located approximately four miles upstream of Dover Dam, which was founded in 1817 and still has multiple 19th century structures.
Multiple flooding events beginning in 2005 caused excessive seepage and boils along the levee resulting in internal erosion. An emergency filter blanket was installed in 2008 to try and mitigate levee degradation. A Risk Assessment was completed in 2013, which resulted in re-classification of the Dam Safety Action Classification. A Dam Safety Modification Report (DSMR) was approved in May 2016. The plan included the installation of an internal erosion interception trench and a small, weighted filter berm at the landward toe of the levee, west of Route 212, as well as a reverse filter in the ponding area. Federal funds were received for the repair project in 2018 with construction recently completed.
The levee is an earth fill with a crest length of 3,893 feet, a crest elevation of 928.5 feet and a maximum height of 45 feet. Appurtenant works include a diversion dam and channel, a gated concrete culvert, a pump station, and four roadway ramps.
The Zoar Levee Dam Safety and Seepage/Stability Correction Program was approved under Section 4 of the Flood Control Act (FCA) of 1939 (P.L. 76-396). The non-Federal cost share partner is the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) and involved multiple Stakeholders including the residents of the Village of Zoar; Zoar Community Association; Ohio History Connection; National Trust for Historic Preservation; Advisory Council for Historic Preservation; various state and Federal resource agencies.