Politics & Government

Fogelsville Dam Closer to Repairs

State DEP has given Upper Macungie until midyear to fix 100-year-old dam.

Upper Macungie's Fogelsville Dam is getting closer to getting fixed.

Supervisors gave the go-ahead last week for the township to begin seeking bids to do the repair work on the dam.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has recommended that the township do the work during the winter, but has also given Upper Macungie until June to make repairs on the nearly 100-year-old dam, which the DEP has listed on its "high hazard" list.

That term means what it sounds like. The state says if the dam were to break, there'd be the potential for serious damage or even loss of life.

The plan is to lower the dam by six feet and restore the nearby stream.

Township officials have said that repairing the dam is preferable to removing it, because it holds up part of Hassadahl Road. 

The township got $140,000 in grant money last year to make repairs, and another $100,000 grant in 2012.

The Lehigh Portland Cement Co. built the dam in 1914 to corral excess water coming from limestone quarries. When the company closed the quarries, it gave the dam to Lehigh County, which later turned it over to the township along with parkland near Route 100.


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