The city of Jefferson, Ga., broke ground in January 2026 on the $40 million Parks Creek Reservoir and Dam Project, which is being built by North Georgia Concrete Inc. (NGC) to provide a secure water supply for anticipated future growth. The project is expected to be completed toward the end of 2028.
Planning for the project began in 2000. On Oct. 27, 2025, the city council awarded a $39.1 million contract to NGC.
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The reservoir will have a normal pool area of approximately 166 acres and a safe yield of 4 million gal. of water per day. The project includes a dam, intake structure, raw water pump station and withdrawal facilities on the North Oconee River, as well as a withdrawal structure at the dam and reservoir.
Six potential locations were studied before the site at 2145 Lyle Field Rd., approximately 4.75 mi. northeast of the city, was selected.
The project includes a 1,170-ft.-long earthen embankment dam approximately 97 ft. high above the existing stream channel. The spillway system includes a 91-ft.-tall reinforced concrete riser tower and 30-in. prestressed concrete cylinder pipe (PCCP) principal spillway, along with a 400-ft.-wide earthen-channel auxiliary spillway.
Two raw water pipelines also are part of the project: 8,200 ft. of 20-in.-diameter ductile iron pipe from the river intake to the reservoir and 1,450 ft. of 20-in.-diameter ductile iron pipe from the reservoir intake to the future water treatment facility.
The reservoir will be approximately 82 ft. deep and have a capacity of 1.3 billion gallons.
The project was designed by Schnabel Engineering LLC for the dam and reservoir and Goodwyn Mills Cawood for the pump stations and pipelines.
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“Several significant engineering challenges had to be addressed,” Jon Dean, Schnabel's engineer of record, told Construction Equipment Guide. “The dam is classified as a Category I [high hazard] structure because a failure could result in loss of life downstream. As a result, it was required to satisfy some of the most stringent dam safety criteria in Georgia, including safely managing the Probable Maximum Precipitation [PMP] storm event.”
The site contains floodplain alluvial soils, existing undocumented fills, residual Piedmont soils, partially weathered rock and bedrock with variable fracturing.
“Engineers and geologists had to perform extensive drilling, rock coring, packer permeability testing, seismic refraction surveys and borehole televiewer investigations to understand seepage pathways and foundation behavior,” Dean said. “Soft and unsuitable floodplain soils must be removed before embankment construction.”
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The dam design incorporates a low-permeability core, chimney, blanket, trench and toe drains and filtered drainage collection systems to control seepage and internal erosion.
During analyses, peak inflow during the full PMP event approached 22,000 cu. ft. per second. The auxiliary spillway was sized to discharge more than 15,000 cu. ft. per second, while the embankment crest remains above the modeled PMP water surface without overtopping.
The reservoir also must meet U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit requirements for water quality management.
“To accomplish this, designers incorporated a selective withdrawal system with seven intake elevations that allow operators to blend water from different levels of the reservoir to optimize downstream release quality,” Dean said.
The site was selected in part because Parks Creek flows through a relatively narrow valley with steep abutments.
“This allows a 159-acre reservoir to be created with a 1,170-foot-long dam, making the project economically efficient,” Dean said. “The dam is founded primarily on residual Piedmont soils and bedrock capable of supporting the embankment and spillway structures without extensive foundation modifications.”
Another advantage is the availability of suitable construction materials on-site, which reduces hauling requirements and costs.
The Parks Creek Reservoir is an off-stream pumped-storage reservoir. Rather than relying primarily on watershed runoff, it will be filled by pumping water from the North Oconee River.
“This allows the city to store water during periods of availability and improve supply reliability while limiting environmental challenges of a more traditional on-stream reservoir,” Dean said.
The dam will require approximately 500,000 cu. yds. of engineered zoned fill.
Construction Progress
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NGC accesses the construction site via Lyle Field Road and Apple Valley Road.
Approximately 10 months into the work, NGC had completed the 5,800-linear-ft. access road for the North Oconee River Pump Station and approximately 95 percent of the 20-in. raw water line installation from the North Oconee River.
The 33-ft.-deep wet well for the North Oconee River Pump Station has been poured, as has the bottom section of the three-story Reservoir Pump Station wet well.
Over the next year, crews will focus on installing 600 linear ft. of 30-in. PCCP principal spillway, constructing the 90-ft.-tall riser tower, installing storm drainage and blanket, trench and chimney drain systems.
Other work will include installation of the riprap wave-protection system, setting the 98-linear-ft. riser access bridge and construction of the North Oconee River Pump Station and Reservoir Pump Station buildings. The Reservoir Pump Station pumps will be installed under a separate contract.
“This project is fairly straightforward,” Spencer Brooks, NGC's project manager, told Construction Equipment Guide. “The challenge on this project is to coordinate the dam and reservoir work with the work on the two pump stations and the raw waterline work. All three need to be managed concurrently so that they come across the finish line together.”
A major power line installation also is under way in the area to provide power to the new pump stations and future water treatment plant.
“The dam project does have a few specialty materials which have extended procurement lead times,” Brooks said. “In cases where certain items take longer to get, we have to be creative and do our best to move the project along in areas that are not affected by the lead times.
“There have been no major construction issues so far. We have not had any groundwater problems to deal with. There are some seasonal restrictions related to clearing and grubbing. The city is very engaged. They attend every monthly update meeting.”
Clearing operations began in January 2026 and continued through March. Crews first cleared the dam site, followed by the reservoir and North Oconee access road and pump station site. Much of the tree debris was mulched and reused for temporary erosion control.
“The plan of attack was to get the timbering, clearing and Phase 1 erosion control items installed so we could begin construction on the dam site and get the pump stations underway,” Brooks said.
The project has two primary components: the dam and reservoir site and the 20-in. ductile iron raw water line and two pump stations connecting the North Oconee River and reservoir.
The initial goal for the dam and reservoir site is to install the principal spillway pipe, construct roughly the first third of the riser tower and build a large earthen cofferdam.
“Once these are complete, it will allow us to reroute the creek water through the principal spillway pipe, which will convey the water through the dam site,” Brooks said.
The dam design calls for different soil classifications to be placed in specific zones. Select material forms the less-permeable clay core, while other structural material is placed on the upstream side. Material making up most of the embankment contains a higher proportion of rock and silt.
“The earthen material for the dam will be excavated from on-site borrow pits, which helps reduce cost and improve efficiency,” Brooks said. “Temporary haul roads are constructed across the site to allow trucks and equipment to move safely between excavation areas and placement zones.”
A variety of excavators, dozers and off-road haul trucks are being used for grading. Key pieces include Komatsu PC360LC through PC490LC excavators and a SANY 500 excavator. The excavators load material into Komatsu 400 articulated haul trucks capable of transporting approximately 40 tons per load.
“On productive days, trucks can complete up to 50 loads,” Brooks said.
Land-clearing operations relied on Tigercat skidders, excavators fitted with grapples and other attachments, feller bunchers and chippers.
For concrete structure work, NGC used a KOBELCO crawler crane and a Link-Belt 138 crawler crane to lift reinforcing steel, structural components and concrete forms. Komatsu PC390 and PC210 excavators and PC270 loaders are among the large tracked and wheeled machines used for site preparation and material movement.
Managing Multiple Crews
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NGC typically has one to four crews, totaling 10 to 40 people, on-site performing work related to the concrete structures.
“Depending on the stage of the project, we could have a grading subcontractor, a building/pump station subcontractor and a pipe crew on-site,” Brooks said.
North Georgia Pipeline Inc. is performing grading and excavation. J&K Utilities Inc. of Jefferson is installing the 20-in. ductile iron lines carrying raw water from the North Oconee River to the reservoir and connecting the reservoir to the future water treatment plant.
J. Brennon Construction Inc. of Dalton is handling the pump station and building work, while GeoHydro Engineers of Kennesaw is performing quality control and testing.
Approximately 40,000 tons of natural river sand will be used for the dam's underdrain system, along with approximately 2,500 cu. yds. of structural concrete, reinforcing steel, steel beams and various types and sizes of pipe, including 9,600 linear ft. of 20-in. DIP and 600 linear ft. of 30-in. PCCP.
NGC uses a combination of company-owned and rental equipment.
“North Georgia Concrete relies on in-house technicians who perform regular maintenance and repairs rather than keeping full-time mechanics on-site,” Brooks said. “Rental equipment from multiple suppliers supplements the company's fleet, ensuring that additional machines can be mobilized quickly when needed.
“We maintain good relationships with the local and regional equipment dealerships and rental companies. We rely on them often as our week-over-week project fleet needs change.”
