Northern Michigan dam fails, section of U.S. 127 could flood

mlive ^ | 4-15-2014 | Andrew Krietz

[Darren McCarty]

ROSCOMMON TOWNSHIP, MI — Flood water reportedly is moving quickly downstream toward Old 27 and U.S. 127 after a dam failed in the area.

A flash flood warning is in effect for southwestern Roscommon County until 6 p.m. Tuesday following the breakage of the Wraco Lodge Dam. Shortly after noon, the National Weather Service reported water was just inches below a U.S. 127 bridge.

There is the possibility of water overtopping the highway between mile markers 185 and 186. Motorists are advised to not drive over flooded roads.

"The water is about a foot and a half from the top of the bridge, (and) traffic is still flowing over the freeway," Michigan State Police Trooper Kevin Flick said. He added there are no plans as of yet to shut down the highway.

[OldMissileer]

The old dam in Luther was concrete. The Mill Pond actually had two dams as one was built off of a dredged channel for a DC power generation facility. As you can tell this thing was quite old since the village power was DC. The channel was filled in but the main dam remained. It had wooden slats that could be pulled out to lower the water levels.

I forgot the exact years this happened and can’t seem to find them on an initial search but the state said the old dam was failing and they finally built a new one that had a spillway taking water from the pond bottom. It was really neat looking but the engineers did not design it properly and when much of the old silt washed away because of the bottom type spillway the dam was undercut. A large rain storm occurred and the whole thing kicked out from the bottom and disintegrated. Some friends of mine live less than a block away and heard some really bad rumbling noises. When they looked out of their front window they saw the dam come apart.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

dayyyy-ummm!

someone else had to say something different!

[Sacajaweau]

Yeh I looked it up and laughed.

[OldMissileer]

I have good friends who live on River Road across the street from the Boardman River. They told me the river got quite high and the two homes across the street, right on the river, were flooded.

[cripplecreek]

The Horton Mill pond in Horton Mi washed out in the 80s. It was an old earthen dam with full grown willow trees growing out of it. It was in rough shape with the trees being the only thing holding it in place. The USACE rebuilt it very stout. Its still an earthen dam but its like concrete.

[OldMissileer]

The third iteration of the Mill Pond dam in Luther is still concrete. The topography doesn’t allow for a proper earthen dam.

[GladesGuru]

“How the hell can a damn fail in this day and age.”

It was a “wildlife dam”, designed by AgencyPersons most likely.

Gubment trough feeders accomplished their usual actualization of bureaucratic excellence.

[Abathar]

This is our family lake that myself, mom, and brother built around and own. To the west where the square edge is to the lake is our levy, about 50' above the road level, the lake was dug below that so that earthen levy is holding back a serious amount of water. We all carry an umbrella policy because if it ever fails we know we will have to replace a good portion of the road below it, probably our neighbors crops, and hopefully no vehicles driving along if it ever does. Needless to say gophers, muskrats and beaver are not viewed as frolicking woodland creatures of beauty, but of moving targets are best viewed through a 12x scope.