BUDE &045; Regional engineers with the Natural Resources Conservation Service will visit the Lake Okhissa Dam in Franklin County soon to review the safety of the project, NRCS officials said Tuesday.

While visiting the site in late February or early March, engineers will &uot;review soil laboratory tests and reaffirm slope stability and integrity of the dam,&uot; according to a statement from the state’s NRCS office.

The agency’s actions follow a study commissioned by the state Department of Environmental Quality on the project, a 1,051-acre recreational lake being built by the NRCS.

In the study, finished in December, engineer Robert Millette said his site review and statements by former project contractor John Parker &uot;lead to concern about the acceptability of performance of the principal spillway … and the embankment.&uot;

Specifically, Millette cited the presence of soft soil underneath the spillway’s box conduit, which can cause settlement and cracking of the structure.

NRCS officials have said such cracks are not large and were anticipated as a result of settling.

Starting in March, new contractor Pickett Industries will begin smoothing the dam’s slope and reinstalling concrete blocks to help shore up the slope, and 8 feet of fill will be added to the dam, according to the NRCS’ Kim Harris.

At that rate, the project should be completed late this year, the agency has said.