LSCA Dam Maintenance Committee

Chairman - Brent Benedetti

REMINDER  The Lake Spivey Dam is off limits except to authorized personnel.  We have had complaints of children playing on the dam and spillway area.  For your personal safety and the security of the Lake Spivey - DO NOT GO ON THE DAM - Henry County Police are authorized to arrest offenders.

Lake Spivey Dam had its' annual inspection by Department of Natural Resources Safe Dam Division and as usual passed with flying colors

If you see anyone on the property you might want to notify the LSCA Lake Manager  Brent Benedetti at 404-392-9800

Committee Members

Brent Benedetti 404-392-9800  

Jerome Cribbs 770-477-1130

Just a little history and facts about Lake Spivey Dam

Lake Spivey Dam is located in Henry County, east of Jonesboro off Blackhall road.

Size of Dam  49 feet high with a volume at maximum pool of approximately 8300 acre feet. Approximateely 550 acres. Deepest water is 35 feet.

The Spivey Dam holds back the waters of Lake Spivey and is given a rating of one of the safest earthen dams in Georgia.

Dr. Walter Spivey, a well known dentist, and his wife Emilie Parmalee Spivey an accomplished concert organist, worked together to create Lake Spivey and surrounding development (See History)

Earthern Dam completed 19/9/57 - Designer  -      Harold Lyle

                                                    Builder -         Jake Freeman

                                                    Caretaker -    Claud and Alvin Munson

Major repair - 1985 raised level of lake 3 feet

Permitted 18/9/85 after raising level and adding spillway

Repairs done to lower gate in 1987

Repairs completed on November 11, 1992 -Engineered by ATEK engineer (karl Myers)

Discovered "wet" area is a spring - causing entrapped water- which now is routed through a pipe

Hurricane "Alberta" washed out the spillway in July 1994.  New Labyrinth spillway finished in 1996.

Assessments were made on the  homeowners and the new "state of the art" spillway was created at a cost of a Million dollars plus. (see article this page regarding the labyrinth spillway.)

A new permit from Department of Natural Resources was issued October 2, 1996 to operate the dam.

LSCA acquired ownership of the dam along with the lakebed and other property in May 1985.

Labyrinth Spillway - from the Anchor Newsletter (updated 9-30-05 )

Our Spillway was tested by  hurricane "Dennis" in July 2005 and  performed flawlessly. A few of our residents - newcomers to Lake  Spivey  - were concerned when the water began to rise and flow over  their docks and  into their  yards. Heavy rains, such as those associated with a hurricane,  may raise the water level  2-3  feet. In the event of a 100 year flood, the water level could rise 6 feet or more.

Opening the gate will not help much with this rapid water rise. The gate is a  4 foot  diameter opening compared to a 144 foot long horizontal ledge across the spillway. When the  lake level is 2 feet  above the normal full level the spillway is dumping the equivalent of a large swimming pool each second.  The new spillway dumps water much faster than the old spillway,  returning the water level to normal in half  the time. The  new spillway employs a  series of steps to remove the energy from the falling water so that   it will not wash out the downstream area. The  new labyrinth type spillway replaced the original spillway that was damaged by Hurricane Alberto in 1994. That hurricane literally sat on us for 5 days causing the 100 year flood.

Our dam was inspected this past January by the Department of Natural  Resources and other than the usual maintenance suggestions, passed with flying colors. The dam is inspected by the DNR at least once a year because it is a Classs 1 dam. The Spivey Dam is considered one of the safest earthen dams in the State. 

- David   Miller, Dam Maintenance Chairman

News about the Dam

In 1994 the excessive rainfall caused by hurricane Alberta damaged the spillway- but the dam held.  Lake Spivey residents were assessed $2400 per property  to build a new all concrete modern spillway and to repair the old spillway as an emergency overflow.  This emergency spillway will probably never be used (except in catastrophic conditions) because the new spillway is equipped to handle most situations. The Department of Natural Resources, Safe Dam Division works with our Dam Maintenance Chairman in overseeing the maintenance of the dam.

The dam is in good condition with routine maintenance (grass cutting, etc) needed. Inspections are done on a regular basis by the Department of Natural Resources, Safe Dam Division.

A fence was added in 2000 to prevent trespassing.  For safety reasons only designated people are allowed on the dam.  Henry County Police are authorized  to  inform  -and if necessary-  remove trespassers.

While the Lake Was Down for the Silt Project

Dam maintenance was in progress, A lot of rock has been placed in the spillway and on the dam face Additional dirt, with proper slope was  added abating on spillway walls and on the slope of the dam. All activities were suggested by DNR. (Department of Natural Resources, Safe Dam Division. ) We also engaged the services of Piedmont Geotechnical Engineers to oversee and sign off on work done on the dam.  (these are maintenance items)  PGE worked with us on the building of the new spillway so they are familiar with our dam.

The Dam is looking good.  We will have a final report  later.

An inspection of the Dam is carried out each year by DNR and they work closely with our Dam Maintenance Committee - of which Dave Miller is the Chairman.  Our Dam is one of the safest in Georgia - of its type (earthen) and we want to keep it that way. It is our most important asset - no dam - no lake.

The well engineered spillway that was installed in 1995-96 takes away many many more times the quantity of  water that the old one did. This labyrinth type spillway can handle most situations in an efficient manner. It moves an incredible amount of water.

- Dan Miller, Dam Maintenance Committee Chair