Amenities: Fishing Lake, Walking Trail
LAKE CLOSED FOR REPAIR – Details below
History of Oak Grove Lake Park
This very unique site, nestled in a highly urbanized residential community, was owned by the SC Department of Natural Resources and transferred to the Recreation District in 2008. Shortly afterwards the District solicited comments from the neighbors to determine a vision for the facility. The .8 mile loop road around the lake is heavily used by walkers, joggers, bikers and families. A local remote control sailboat club holds regular regattas that draw visitors from as far away as Anderson and Asheville. The lake is also stocked and a popular fishing destination for local residents.
Park open from sunrise to sunset.
No alcoholic beverages allowed. .
Fishing on Wednesdays and Saturdays only.*
A valid SC Fishing license required.*.
Fishing limits are 20 bream, 3 catfish and 3 largemouth bass (largemouth must be minimum of 12 inches in length).* .
Snagging of fish by any device is not allowed.* .
No minnows allowed for bait.* .
Only electric trolling motors allowed.*
All boats must meet U.S. Coast Guard requirements for operation and equipment.* .
*Lake Closed – No Fishing
Fishing*
No hunting or camping allowed.
No brandishing or discharging of firearms.
No swimming allowed.
No street-side parking.
Parking in parking lots only.
Please refrain from feeding waterfowl – “Waterfowl Management”.
Pets must be on a leash (6′ max).
Owners are responsible for cleaning up after their pets
Remote Control Sailing*
If you are interested in remote control sailing there is a marked course with buoys on the lake that is availble free of charge to visitors. Click here to view the flyer. For information on the local sailing club contact donhightower@yahoo.com.
*Lake Closed – No Fishing or Sailing
ATTENTION: CURRENT STATUS of OAK GROVE LAKE
4/16/13:
With Spring weather moving in and wet weather moving out conditions are coming together to resume construction on the dam. Samples of dirt were taken by Terracon to test current moisture content. The soil is still too wet to resume but measures are being taken to expedite the process and warmer weather will naturally help. RCS Grading is repairing damaged silt fence in preparation to continue the dam construction. The results of further soil samples and the weather forecast will determine how soon construction can begin. See our Repair Timeline and Photos on the next tab.
7/2/2012: .
On Thursday, April 12, 2012 around 2:30pm the seam that joined two horizontal pipes failed causing the lake to drain out of the spillway. By that evening the entire 12 acre lake had drained. Greenville Rec is working with Greenville County Public Works, Greenville County Soil and Water Conservation District, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, along with other experts. Repair plans are currently being prepared by CCAD Engineering and Terracon. Request for Qualifications from companies to do the repair work were being accepted until noon of June 5, 2012. Qualified contractors are being reviewed and will be asked to bid on the project. . Current design solutions call for “slip piping” the current spillway pipe which would entail placing a slightly smaller, smooth-lined pipe in the existing spillway opening and then injecting a flowable grout to fill the void spaces and secure the pipe in place. Work is anticipated to begin in late summer, early fall. Currently, there is a small check dam around the spillway to help control sediment flow out of the lake. We are also taking this opportunity to assess ways to improve fishing, create more shoreline, and establish an underwater dive training center for the Sheriff’s Office and Fire and Rescue Teams. . We apologize for this inconvenience and for your safety please do not use the road crossing over the dam or go into the lake bottom. To be added to our Oak Grove Lake e-updates, please contact ty@gcrd.org with your email address and relation to the park. This webpage will be continuously updated by Greenville Rec as park developments arise. See our Repair Timeline and Photos on the next tab.
WATERFOWL: Most of the waterfowl have moved. While some waterfowl remain DO NOT FEED THEM! This will only encourage them to stay. A healthy lake should only have between 1 and 2 waterfowl per acre which means Oak Grove Lake is only suitable for up to 24 waterfowl. Beyond that contributes to a declining health of the lake – low oxygen count, excessive aquatic weeds, etc.
**Coming up on one year since the damn first failed, Joe Barron and Ty Houck explain the situation at Oak Grove Lake Park (3/26/3)**
Oak Grove Lake Dam Status:
April 12, 2012 – Around 2:30 pm Greenville County and Greenville County Recreation District receives calls reporting low water levels at Oak Grove Lake Park. County, State and Rec District officials arrive on-site to assess the situation. There is a wide whirlpool between the vertical standpipe and the earthen dam. Water is observed leaving the lake through the spillway at full capacity. Some erosion of earthen dam occurs as well as sloughing of the northernmost island. By 8:30 pm the lake had completely drained.
April 13, 2012 – SC DHEC reviews the process of dam re-construction with Greenville Rec and provides the permitting process to rebuild the dam and refill the lake.
April 18, 2012 – Greenville Rec engages CCAD Engineering to study the problem and prepare plams, specifications, and permit applications. With recommendations from Greenville Rec and Greenville County, several additions and improvements are suggested to make the most of this re-construction opportunity. Fishing habitat improvements, a land bridge peninsula to the northernmost island, and the development of an underwater Emergency Dive Training center were opportunities that CCAD was asked to consider in construction plans.
May 4, 2012 – Greenville Rec hires Terracon to test the soil in the dam around the pipe and the soil under the lake for use in repairing the dam. Testing reveals that, to the best of our knowledge, the core of the dam remains solid. The appropriate fix, agreed on by all groups involved, was determined to be “slip-lining” the entire 6 foot corrugated metal pipe with a slightly smaller High Density Polyethlene (HPDE) pipe and grouting the annular space between the pipes to stabilize the entire pipe system. The HDPE pipe, although smaller, will carry the same flow since it is smooth.
May 13, 2012 – Greenville Rec issues a notice to pre-qualify construction contractors to bid for the dam repair. Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for construction services advertised.
May 18, 2012 – Greenville Rec, Greenville County Public Works and CCAD Engineering met to review the design plans and discuss details of land modification and recreational amenities to the park.
June 13-21, 2012 – Greenville Rec and CCAD Engineering developed an Emergency Action Plan for Oak Grove Lake Dam.
June 21, 2012 – Greenville Rec, Greenville County Public Works and CCAD Engineering meet to review final design plans. Some changes and clarifications are made to the parking area and peninsula additions.
April – July – Three agencies have permitting authority for reviewing the certain aspects of the project – S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Dam Safety Section is reviewing the repair plans, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is reviewing the work in the “waters of the U.S.”, and Greenville County Land Development Division is assuring that water quality and proper erosion control measures are in place. Greenville Rec and CCAD work on submitting the following applications and permits:
- SCDHEC application to Construct or Alter a Dam
- Joint Federal and State Application Form for Activities Affecting Water of the United States or Critical Areas in the State of South Carolina
- SCDOT Encroachment Permit
- Greenville County Land Development Division Approval
July 6, 2012 – All necessary permit applications to DHEC, Corps of Engineers, and Greenville County have been submitted.
July 10, 2012 - Pre-Bid meeting scheduled to discuss the repair project and inform the construction contractors of the scope of the project so they can prepare their project bids. There was an inquiry about standing water in the lake attracting excessive numbers of mosquitoes to the area. Mosquito breeding habits are generally limited to standing water in shady areas. The standing water in the lake is in a very sunny area and should not affect mosquito populations of the surrounding areas.
July 31, 2012 - Request for Qualifications bids due. 17 contractors inquired about the RFQ and were sent original plans for the project. Greenville Rec received 5 qualification respondents. All respondents were qualified for the work and plan to submit bids. All day rainstorm hits the area on Tuesday.
August 7, 2012 – Qualified Project Bids due. Bids will be reviewed by a committee made up of Greenville Rec, County Public Works and local experts. All permits are still pending, except for the Army Corp. of Engineers permit that has been approved.
August 17, 2012 – Greenville Rec has pre-qualified and received bids from 5 bidders. Bids received range from $229,300 to $495,000. In addition, engineering and construction management costs are $47,000 and environmental testing costs $25,000. The actual funding available for dam repair is $200,000. Due to the project coming in well in excess of the available funding, Greenville Rec, CCAD, and Terracon are exploring alternative solutions to complete the project within the available budget. One option being explored is to cut through the road from the top down and remove the pipe completely, as opposed to the original slip-lining plan.
September 4, 2012 – Greenville Rec’s Northern Maintenance crew is evaluating a regular maintenance plan for the park while the lake is empty. This measure is to ensure the park is still accessible and enjoyable for walkers and park goers while the dam is under construction.
October 8, 2012 – The original plan of “slip-lining” the existing corrugated pipe with a 66″ smooth pipe has some potentially costly unknown variables that have caused the need for evaluation of another option With the “slip-lining” option there are voids around the existing corrugated pipe that would have to be filled first using a specialized pressure grout. Because these voids are around the pipe, mostly below the pipe, it is extremely difficult to ascertain the total volume of the voids. The grout work would cost $99 per cubic foot so the cost could quickly escalate and there is a possibility that air pockets could be created during the process and thus unstable isolated voids could remain. Because of this potentially costly unknown we started exploring another option on August 8, 2012 that involves removing the section of the dam above the existing pipe all the way down to below the existing pipe and build it back up. This would allow all the voids to be filled through compaction instead of grouting. This option would require that the new pipe(s) be able to handle 2 1/2 times the 100-year flood or 6″ of rain an hour. This over abundant capacity requirement is to ensure against a catastrophic dam failure. Another way to ensure against a catastrophic dam failure is through a Dam Break Analysis Report to evaluate if current structural conditions of the dam could withstand the pressure of a 6″ per hour rain event. We have engaged a company to do that report because the $20k cost of the report is worth pursuing. This report is expected to take 3 weeks to prepare. We are working with SC DHEC to get permits to complete the dam repair. As we continue to make determinations of the best option to pursue (currently we believe that the latter option is the most preferred) we have been working to secure funding. As of this date we believe we have enough funding to complete the preferred option.
November 8, 2012 – Greenville Rec continues to work with DHEC to explore the variables in completing the dam project. The Dam Breach Analysis Report has been completed and is being reviewed to determine the best course of action.
November 13, 2012 – Thanks to Greenville County, Greenville Rec has come up with the final funding piece to hire a contractor and begin construction at Oak Grove Lake Park. RCS Grading Inc. has been selected to complete the project and they intend to finish by the end of December.
November 29th, 2012 – The final plans for the re-construction of the dam are being finalized and RCS Grading plans to begin mobilizing their equipment on-site tomorrow. Construction will begin December 3rd and take approximately two to three weeks.
December 15th, 2012 – Construction is underway on the new dam piping.
January 6th, 2013 – Ideal weather conditions for this type of construction process have not been present over the past few weeks. Periodically, RCS Grading will remove their equipment from the site based on the weather and temporarily suspend operations according. The project is still ongoing and construction will take place whenever the weather is suitable.
March 18th, 2013 – The wet winter weather continues to hinder a steady construction schedule at Oak Gove Lake. The soil remains too wet at the bottom of the dam area to pursue construction. Working with wet soils is hazardous to the overall, lasting safety of the dam and it is important to hold off on construction until soil tests confirm a positive work environment. It is our hope that spring will bring warmer, dryer weather to allow for construction to be complete.
April 16th, 2013 – With Spring weather moving in and wet weather moving out conditions are coming together to resume construction on the dam. Samples of dirt were taken by Terracon to test current moisture content. The soil is still too wet to resume but measures are being taken to expedite the process and warmer weather will naturally help. RCS Grading is repairing damaged silt fence in preparation to continue the dam construction. The results of further soil samples and the weather forecast will determine how soon construction can begin. See our Repair Timeline and Photos on the next tab.
Thank you to everyone who has been interested in this issue. Please continue to check back and tell others you may know to do the same. We will continue to update this timeline until the dam is functioning and the park is re-opened. **Please continue to check this website for repair updates. The timeline will be updated as new information/events occur. We appreciate your interest in Oak Grove Lake Park and your patience throughout this process.
Lake & Dam Photos
