Lake Delton land rush

Published: May 1, 2009

By Janine Anderson

Engineers working to restore Lake Delton were given six months to complete two projects that typically take up to two years to finish.

John Langhans said he knew there would be work to do when he saw state Highway A breached by water during June’s heavy rains.

“I was just in awe of the power of Mother Nature,” said Langhans, a project manager with MSA Professional Services Inc., Baraboo, who serves as village engineer in Lake Delton. “I immediately tried to shift gears on what repair efforts were needed to get the community back on its feet.”

Lake Delton, along with the tourist industry it supports, brings millions of dollars into the local economy each year. When the rains and breach drained the lake, village leaders took immediate action.

Langhans said Lake Delton officials called the governor’s office, and were meeting almost immediately with the Wisconsin departments of Transportation and Natural Resources.

Everyone wanted to complete by December two projects — the rebuilding of Highway A and increasing capacity on the Dell Creek Dam — so the lake could refill with the spring thaw.

MSA took the lead on the dam project, while Madison-based Mead & Hunt Inc. headed up the highway project.

Mead & Hunt Vice President Rusty Chesmore said the firm made its portion of the project a top priority, pushing other projects aside.

“We had very frank conversations with other clients and let them know what was going on,” he said.

“They were not on as tight a schedule and were able to be delayed a little bit.”

Langhans said keeping in constant communication became a key to meeting the project’s compressed timeline.

There were weekly conference calls, a project e-mail list and design team meetings with up to 30 people attending.

“At times there were 30 to 40 people working at once on the public and private side, all on their own little parts,” Langhans said. “It wasn’t A, then B, then C. It was A, B and C all happening at the same time. The review and regulatory side, it was all on a parallel path with the design of the dam and Highway A.”