ROANOKE, Va., March 13, 2015 – Appalachian Power has completed repairs to a floating boat barrier that flipped underwater near the Smith Mountain Lake Dam last month. The barrier’s top section was knocked over by a combination of ice buildup, snow and wind and was discovered Feb. 22.

Because vertical sections of the barrier were underwater, the structure was harder to see by boaters on the lake surface. However, three companion lighted buoys remained operational and were visible at night.

A contractor for Appalachian repaired and righted the 1,000-ft. barrier earlier this week.  The structure runs between the Bedford and Pittsylvania County slopes of the Smith Mountain gap where the dam is located. It is between navigational marker R1 and the dam and was designed to keep boats away from dangerous power generation areas.

Appalachian had ordered a new boat barrier and warning system for the location before the winter damage occurred. The new structure is expected to be in place by fall 2015.

Appalachian Power’s Smith Mountain Project is a 636-megawatt pumped storage hydroelectric facility that utilizes an upper reservoir (Smith Mountain Lake) and a lower reservoir (Leesville Lake).  Water stored in Smith Mountain Lake first passes through turbine-generators in the powerhouse to produce electricity and is discharged into Leesville Lake.  Most of the water is retained in Leesville Lake and pumped back into the Smith Mountain Lake for re-use.  A portion of the water goes through the turbine-generators at the Leesville powerhouse to generate additional electricity and to meet the minimum discharge requirements of the project's operating license.

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