Fannin County, Texas -- Work is beginning on the Leon Hurse Dam for Lake Ralph Hall. When finished, the dam will be 2.3 miles long and include both a spillway (to release water into the North Sulphur River), intake structure and pump station (to move it through the pipeline to treatment).
So far, crews have removed grass, brush, trees, fences, etc. from around half of the 600 acres needed to begin building the dam.
After clearing is completed, Granite Construction will be working to move dirt to create the embankment. The Leon Hurse Dam was designed by Freese and Nichols. Construction is scheduled to finish on the dam near the end of 2024. Read more at https://lakeralphhall.com/construction/project-components.
UTRWD offering presentations
Interested in learning more about Lake Ralph Hall? UTRWD is offering to make presentations to local civic groups such as chambers of commerce, Kiwanis and Rotary clubs. To schedule a presentation, please contact Jason Pierce at 972-219-1228.
A new way to celebrate Fossil Day
Ladonia locals recently celebrated Fossil Day in style at the new and improved temporary park location. October 13 was declared National Fossil Day in 2010 by the National Park Service.
This year, representatives from the Dallas Paleontology Society, local geologists, fossil enthusiasts and local food vendors all showed up to make this Fossil Day one to remember.
“We had a hundred cars parked at one point, maybe 300 hundred people and well over 100 kids,” shared Cheryl McClure, who helped organize the festivities and serves as an admin for the Ladonia Fossil Park Facebook Group. She added that the temporary park’s, “parking and access made it work so well for us to meet there.”
The fossil park’s recent relocation for construction of Lake Ralph Hall has provided fossil hunters with easier access to a whole new section of the riverbed. The new, temporary park opened this summer and will remain open until the reservoir is completed and a new, permanent fossil park can be created downstream of the lake’s dam.
Construction Office now open
This past month, UTRWD opened a Program Construction Office in downtown Ladonia to support the on-going lake construction activities. The new office will be for contractors and UTRWD construction personnel only. For general inquires and information about Lake Ralph Hall, please visit the Field Office at 10910 State Highway 34, Ladonia or call 903-367-7008.
On October 7, members of the UTRWD Board of Directors toured Lake Ralph Hall construction on Hwy 34 bridge and Leon Hurse Dam.
“It was absolutely incredible to see the amount of visible work already done in the short few months since construction started,” shared City of Justin Board Member Greg Scott. “My hat goes off to the many engineers and construction workers that are improving North Texas’s water supply needs.”
