$9 Million Project Underway to Address “High Hazard” at Loughberry Lake Dam
Overlook depiction of the Loughberry Lake Dam area along NYS Route 50.
Image: City of Saratoga Springs.
by Thomas Dimopoulos
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The new year brought with it the rattle and hum of heavy machinery whose metal limbs poked at the sky above Saratoga where Route 50 crosses with Marion Ave.
The cause of the scene is a $9 million project to address aging infrastructure in a remediation of the deficiencies of the Loughberry Lake Dam.
The project initially got underway in October 2024 and is slated to continue to its “substantial completion” in October 2025. The goal is to return the dam to a safe working condition per the New York State DEC, says Saratoga Springs City Engineer James Salaway.
A state DEC inspection classified the dam as a “High Hazard,” a classification the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation based on the potential impact that a dam failure may have on downstream areas. By definition, the estimated consequences were the dam to fail: “may result in widespread or serious damage to home(s); damage to main highways, industrial or commercial buildings, railroads, and/or important utilities, including water supply, sewage treatment, fuel, power, cable or telephone infrastructure; or substantial environmental damage; such that the loss of human life or widespread substantial economic loss is likely.” The reclassification was made sometime during the past few years due to increased development.
Last September, the Saratoga Springs City Council awarded a bid to rehab the Loughberry Lake Dam to Winn Construction, of Waterford. Winn Construction was the lowest bidder on the project, and the project bid was awarded at $7.612 million. The $9 million overall project cost includes about $7.5 million in construction and the balance in design and engineering costs, Salaway said.
Loughberry Lake has been the principal potable water supply for Saratoga Springs since 1871 – the lake itself developed sometime between 1850 and 1865, by damming a surface stream channel and valley.
Originally constructed as a railroad embankment, in 1967 the dam crest was widened after state Department of Transportation constructed Route 50.
The lake spans a length approximately 5,700 feet long with a maximum width of 1,050 feet, with three local governments – the city of Saratoga Springs and the towns of Wilton and Greenfield, occurring within the watershed, according to the June 1988 report “Water Quality and Watershed Study of Loughberry Lake” published by the Division of Water in Albany.
Interim DPW Commissioner Hank Kuczynski said every two weeks the engineering staff of the city – led by City Engineer James Salaway, assistant City Engineer Matt Zeno, and Water Plant Operator Brett Johnson – tour the construction site and mark the project progress according to plans submitted by the engineers.
Note: an earlier version of this story referred to the Loughberry Lake Dam as having an “Intermediate Hazard” classification. It was reclassified as “High Hazard” sometime during the past few years due to increased development.