Lake Hauto Club, Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania

The Lake Hauto Club retained the services of O’Brien & Gere to perform a detailed investigation of Lake Hauto Dam. The investigation, which comprised of a visual inspection of the dam, a subsurface investigation, and stability and hydrologic/hydraulic analyses, concluded that the dam required rehabilitation measures to protect the embankment against overtopping erosion during the recommended Spillway Design Flood (PMF), and to meet other current dam safety criteria.

Based on the results of the investigation, O'Brien & Gere evaluated several alternative rehabilitation methods for constructability and cost; however, armoring with Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) was found to be the most cost-effective method of protecting the Lake Hauto Dam embankment from failure during the Spillway Design Flood.

O’Brien & Gere designed a program for improvements to the dam, which involved placement of approximately 15,000 cubic yards of RCC, underlain by a sand filter, as an armoring system on the downstream face of the dam; installation of a drainage system; rehabilitation of the spillway outlet channel; and replacement of a deteriorated pedestrian access bridge across the spillway channel.