2025 ACEC Platinum Award Project Cooper Lake Dam and West Dike Rehabilitation, Woodstock, NY Design Team Schnabel Engineering of New York, Clifton Park, NY Client Kingston Water Department
News and Insights / Cooper Lake Wins ACEC New York Engineering Excellence Award
December 4, 2024

Cooper Lake Wins ACEC New York Engineering Excellence Award

The Cooper Lake Dam and West Dike Rehabilitation Project has been honored with a Platinum Award from the 2025 ACEC New York Engineering Excellence Awards!

Kingston’s once-in-a-generation rehabilitation of Cooper Lake Dam and West Dike ensures continuity of source water supply through the 21st century. The project included piping and outlet works with multi-staged water supply intakes and a low-level outlet. New valving was installed for greater operational flexibility. The raised and rehabilitated Main Dam included an embankment buttress, a new chimney drain, and a clay core encapsulation of the exposed concrete core wall.
Utilizing a calibrated safe yield model to accurately quantify the risk to the water supply allowed for a ten-foot lake lowering, saving $5M in construction cost of the cofferdam. The new water supply intake tower contains the piping and outlet works, featuring a first-floor operational level and views of the surrounding Catskill Mountains. The 2022 drought posed a threat to the water supply similar to the historic droughts of record. The team successfully implemented planned and improvised emergency actions.

This recognition highlights the project’s complexity, innovation, and value to society, as judged by a panel of industry experts.

Congratulations to our client, the City of Kingston Board of Water Commissioners, our dedicated partners CDM Smith and Thalle Construction Company, Inc., and the rest of the Cooper Lake team!

This project is a testament to the power of collaboration and resourcefulness in advancing infrastructure and serving communities.

About the Project

Back to News & Insights