By Kari Lucin, staff writer

A local engineering firm will develop a fourth option for the Albert Lea Lake Dam that will include a county bridge and the dam as a single structure.

Three previous options proved unsatisfactory to the Shell Rock River Watershed District Board.

The watershed board is hoping to cooperate with Freeborn County in building the dam and bridge as a single piece, as it is now, instead of having two separate structures.

The fourth design option will also include a carp barrier, a design element missing from the first three options but considered crucial by some board members. The board will also look into creating public access on the dam for fishing and canoe launching.

Freeborn County had planned to update the bridge in 2008 or 2009, but the Department of Natural Resources grant of $250,000 for the dam will run out in the summer of 2008.

Providing a fourth option for the dam will also allow engineers to incorporate the watershed board’s plans for dredging Albert Lea Lake and the Shell Rock River into the dam’s design.

&8220;I see this dam that we built working properly after the river is dredged and after the lake is dredged,&8221; said watershed board Manager Gary Pestorious.

The Freeborn County Board will have to vote on incorporating the dam into the bridge at its

next meeting Tuesday in order for the plans to proceed.

Meanwhile, local engineering firm Wenck and Associates is working on a preliminary engineering study for the fourth dam option.

The last-minute addition harkens back to earlier discussions with the county about incorporating the dam and bridge into a single structure. Previously, the watershed board wasn’t sure of when the county’s bridge update would take place and didn’t want to commit to combining efforts because of the time limit on the watershed’s grant.

The call for a new design signifies a major change in the project’s direction, incorporating more elements for a structure with multiple functions.

&8220;We keep changing direction with this dam, we’re going to have that $250,000 burned up in engineering costs anyway,&8221; said Manager Harley Miller.