Solution required innovative thinking
By Bob Brown
Chris Goodwin has more than 30 years of experience in damn near everything having to do with dams – from their hydrology , design , and inspection to their operation , permitting , and emergency preparedness .
Goodwin , manager of the Ayres water resources group , said that for a myriad of reasons – some plainly obvious , most discernible only to a well-trained eye – “ no two dams are exactly alike . That ’ s the biggest challenge in our kind of engineering .”
Perhaps the most unusual challenge in Goodwin ’ s extensive engineering experience involved overseeing the restoration of the historic Lanesboro Dam , which has controlled the flow of the Root River as it passes through the small town of Lanesboro , Minnesota , since shortly after the Civil War .
According to the Minnesota Historical Society , the Lanesboro Dam was built in 1868 , the year the Southern Minnesota Railroad reached the town . The dam ’ s purpose then was to divert water from the Root River through a canal to nearby mills . In those mills the river water powered the turbines that allowed millstones to ground locally harvested wheat into grain .
Today , tourism and agriculture serve as the economic lifeblood of Lanesboro , a town of 768 residents tucked into the far southeastern corner of the state . And the dam remains as important as ever . Central to the town ’ s historic charm , it is featured in tourism brochures and is regularly photographed by visitors . The Root River Bike Trail crosses the river via a former railroad bridge just
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