Dam Safety Initiative

The Dam Safety Initiative is a multi-year capital improvement project designed to ensure the ongoing safety and integrity of Miami Conservancy District’s flood protection system. 

Miami Conservancy District launched the Dam Safety Initiative in 1999 to address weaknesses in the flood protection system. MCD’s Board of Consultants, a group of world-renowned engineers who periodically meet with staff to critically review plans, data, technical inestigations and proposed solutions to various issues.

As a result of the independent group of experts’ recommendations, underseepage, dam crest permeability and concrete deterioration are being fixed through a series of repairs and modifications to the dams. These projects include:

• The installation of relief wells and toe berms at the downstream base of the dams
• The construction of impermeable cut-off walls at the top of the dams
• The replacement of deteriorating concrete
• Grouting of Lockington Dam bedrock foundation

The Dam Safety Initiative is MCD’s largest investment in the flood protection system since the original construction in 1918-1922.