HINTON, West Virginia. (Mar. 2, 2026)— The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Huntington District, announced the passing of a major milestone, the completion of the right-side stilling basin for the Bluestone Dam Phase 5 Project on Monday, March 2. The milestone marks a critical point in the Bluestone Dam Phase 5 project that brings together years of planning, engineering and construction showcasing a marvel that will serve and safeguard the people of West Virginia for many years. Water is flowing on the right side for the first time since 2020. “It is truly an honor to be a part of this major milestone of the Bluestone Dam Phase 5 project—the completion of the right side stilling basin,” saidCol. Phil Valenti, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District Commander. With the backdrop of a newly constructed stilling basin and divider wall that together provides protection for 165,000 people downstream, Bluestone Dam can now reliably discharge significantly more water than in the past. This upgrade to Bluestone Dam began with the completion of the Dam Safety Assurance Evaluation Report in 1998 and set in motion a series of improvements to the dam. The last piece of this massive infrastructure project, Phase 5, is now 63% complete and expected to finish in 2030. “This is about delivering resilient infrastructure,” Valenti said. “The resilience and protection this project provides communities downstream is immeasurable. It’s about turning what once seemed impossible into reality. The dedicated team at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers building infrastructure with our incredible partners, and engineering solutions to the nation’s biggest challenges.” Mr. Phil Johnson, USACE, Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, Regional Business Director highlighted the scale of the project and accomplishments of the USACE team. He lauded the USACE team, the community, legislators and contractors for their hard work to get to this point.
“This project is a massive undertaking and requires incredible planning and partnering to keep the project progressing. We were brought to full funding in 2018 with the Bipartisan Budget Act and that allowed us to deliver this project sooner than originally projected,” said Johnson. The total cost of all phases of the Bluestone Dam project is estimated at $960 million, a huge investment in Flood Risk Management for West Virginia. The Bluestone Dam project benefits both West Virginia’s environment and economy. In addition to a safer dam that provides more predictable discharges of water downstream allowing economic development, the project is creating jobs and providing a significant boost to the nearby local economies in Southern West Virginia. Bluestone Dam serves as the anchor to the “Golden Mile” of fishing at the confluence of the Greenbrier and New Rivers providing safe, reliable flows of oxygenated water that allows several species of fish to flourish. When work is complete, the public will be able to once again fish in the left (west) stilling basin and near the right (east) stilling basin. Improvements are also being made to access the left bank downstream of the dam. On the right side, there will be a pier built at the end of the right training wall for elevated fishing and observation of the river that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). These facilities will be available once they are completed by the contractor and opened to the public by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 2030. Currently, on the right side of the dam, there are several areas from which to wade out into the New River and fish. Anglers are reminded to observe posted signage, stay out of the marked construction area, off the Bluestone Dam catwalk, and away from the area underneath the arm of the large blue overhead crane. When complete, Bluestone Dam will provide safe, reliable discharge of waters downstream. It will do this with a new stilling basin that has replaced the fractured ancient rock with 10 feet of reinforced concrete with an integrated drainage system that, in combination with many steel strand anchors, reduce the uplift forces from Bluestone Lake. Splitting the stilling basin will be the newly constructed divider wall that pulls together all of the drains and discharges the naturally occurring water downstream while also providing strength to the overall dam. Lastly, it allows a less obtrusive manner to maintain and inspect the stilling basins by allowing dam operators the ability to dewater each side independently while allowing continuous flows in the unaffected stilling basin. Unique to Bluestone Dam is the integration of massive 12 foot wide baffle blocks towering 16½ feet above the floor of the basin, armored with stainless steel to ensure they can dissipate the energy carried by water discharged overhead through the crest gates. Work on Phase 5 began in 2018 with planning and design and is ongoing with stilling basin construction. USACE estimates the Phase 5 project will be finished by 2030, five years earlier than first planned. The Huntington District is committed to constructing a safe, reliable dam that will perform as designed and returning recreational features for all to use. On December 1, 2025, Don Whitmore, the Director of the Dam Safety Production Center, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the designer of record, visited Bluestone Dam and toured the then nearly completed stilling basin. “It may not be easy to see once water is flowing as most of the completed work will be underwater---but it is essential. It’s the installation of the drains, steel strand anchors, concrete and 16½ foot tall super cavitating baffle blocks that makes the entire dam optimally function.” "The complexity of this huge project in such a small space requires the best of us and that’s what we have… a team compiled of the best of the United States Army Corps of Engineers working in partnership with Brayman Construction Corporation and in collaboration with the State of West Virginia,” said Dennis Hughes, the Chief of the Engineering and Construction Division at Huntington District. “I’m confident that we are getting the engineering right, getting the construction management right and we’ve got the right team working on this project.” “We mark the completion of the right-side stilling basin and reflect on six years of construction up to this point, we recognize that every finished feature of work adds strength and reliability to Bluestone Dam and safety, resilience and peace of mind to those potentially affected along the New and Kanawha River Valleys,” said Josh Miller, Bluestone Dam Project Manager. “Each milestone brings us closer to an end state of an upgraded Bluestone Dam and a more predictable future.” The Bluestone Dam is located in Southern West Virginia 94 miles southeast of Charleston, West Virginia, 180 miles west of Charlottesville, Virginia, and 155 miles northwest of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. For more news, updates and information visit the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Huntington District district’s website at http://www.lrh.usace.army.mil, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/USACELRH.