GRCA: Heaters to improve dam gate mobility

The Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) is moving forward with the installation of heaters at the Shand Dam on Belwood Lake.

Communications manager Dave Schultz said detailed design work for the $200,000 project is almost complete.

“What they’ll be doing is installed heaters in the ‘gains’ – the structures that hold the gates when they move up and down,” Schultz said in an email to the Advertiser.

“The heaters will melt any ice that accumulates within the gain, making it easier to move the gates after a freeze-up.”

The GRCA plans to tender the job later this month or in July – with the goal of installing the heaters this fall.

Also listed among the $1.3 million in projects the GRCA plans to complete this year are “restructuring” the Conestogo River channel through Drayton (about $200,000) and pavement repairs and an emergency generator upgrade at the Conestogo Dam in Mapleton.

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