
North Fork Dam Wins ASDSO’s Project of the Year
The Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) recently named the North Fork Spillway and Embankment Improvement project, 2021 National Dam Rehabilitation Project of the Year. Each year, ASDSO honors individuals and organizations making exemplary contributions to the improvement of dam safety in the United States. This award recognizes a unique remedial design, for a project of any size, that advances the state-of-the-art in the field of dam safety and exemplifies the professional engineering and construction standards that dam safety requires.
The Schnabel Engineering team in collaboration with the City of Ashville, designed spillway and embankment improvements to update the North Fork Reservoir dam. The Schnabel team worked with the contractor, Phillips & Jordan, throughout construction over a nearly 3-year long period. Construction consisted of a new auxiliary spillway using Fusegates (Hydroplus), modifications to the Main and Saddle Dams, soil nail and rock tie-back wall, upgrades to the intake tower, extension of the outlet works conduit, and rehabilitation of the principal spillway and chute.



These improvements created a safe, reliable solution for the community’s growing water needs, which improves the original structure and is prepared to withstand modern weather patterns and record rainfalls without failing the City’s water consumers. Multiple opportunities were found for value-engineering improvements, and construction was carefully planned and executed without disrupting current water supply to the City and its surrounding areas.
Learn more about ASDSO’s 2021 Dam Safety Awards and see all the award recipients.
These improvements created a safe, reliable solution for the community’s growing water needs, which improves the original structure and is prepared to withstand modern weather patterns and record rainfalls without failing the City’s water consumers.