Augusta canal will be drained starting Monday for maintenance work
Abraham Kenmore
The Augusta Canal will be drained starting Monday by the Augusta Utilities Department. The canal draining will allow the Utilities Department and Georgia Power to do some needed work.
Dayton Sherrouse, executive director of the canal authority, said he expected the draining to last several weeks.
"Right now we're planning for it to be refilled March 20," he said.
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"Georgia Power has been coordinating with the City of Augusta to perform maintenance work around the 15th Street Substation when the canal will already be drained," wrote Andrew Vickery, a spokesperson for Georgia Power, in an email.
The work, according to Sherrouse, will include boring under the canal to run new conduit for the installation of additional electrical cables. Augusta Utilities will use the opportunity to repair an embankment near the pumping station that was damaged by two uprooted trees, as well as some repairs to the Long Gate Spillway and some testing for seepage.
The canal's Petersburg Boats will be dry-docked for maintenance and repainting through the middle of next month, as well as allowing for a Coast Guard inspection and maintenance.