New Lake Delhi Dam Wins Top Engineering Award

The newly-restored Lake Delhi Dam has won Iowa's top engineering award.
The original dam was devastated by floodwaters in 2010, after the area received 12 inches of rain, causing the lake to raise 8.5 feet, overtopping and breaching the earthen dam.

Without a recreational lake, the area economy was also devastated.

The Lake Delhi community came together, raising money and passing a 20 year, $6 million reconstruction bond.

Iowa-based engineering firm Stanley Consultants was hired to put the project together in about four years, with actual construction taking 2 years.

The new dam, featuring the state's first labyrinth spillway, was finished in 2016, including a celebration that was held exactly 6 years from when the old dam gave way.

It has been announced that the new Lake Delhi Dam has received the top award, the Grand Conceptor, at the annual engineering excellence competition, held by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Iowa.

The competition recognizes engineering projects that demonstrate an exceptional degree of innovation, complexity, achievement, and value.