August 28, 2025

By Lane Kimble

ROTHSCHILD, Wis. — To the untrained eye, the Rothschild dam looks like a dam should, steadily controlling the flow of the Wisconsin River.  To an expert, though?  You’d better look again.

The western portion of the overall 113-year-old dam – a wooden spill crib installed in 1964 – is leaking badly and needs to be replaced.  It’s the kind of specialty infrastructure work right up Lunda Construction’s alley.

“This type of work dovetails real nice into our skillset,” Lunda Construction President Joe Larson said.  “At times, we do quite a few of these projects and they’ve been great jobs.  They’ve been challenging projects but, at the end of the day, they’ve been fun projects.”

August 19, Republican lawmakers joined Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to celebrate a groundbreaking near the site just south of Wausau.

They included $42 million for the dam modernization in the latest state budget – about half the total cost.  Forest and paper products manufacturer Domtar will pick up one-third of the cost itself, with local and federal cost-sharing covering the rest.

“This is truly a bipartisan project and I’m proud that I was able to spearhead the effort in the Senate,” Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Irma) said.

Domtar–which produces high-quality printing paper at this plant–worked hard to gather state and local support (WAOW news coverage) while staying within budget.

The dam used to be critical to mill operations and helped form Lake Wausau.  Now, it’s more important for recreation, nature, and preserving a way of life for a community Domtar holds dearly.

“We’ve got, as far as I’m concerned, the best in the business to do an important project like this,” Steve Henry, Domtar President of Paper and Packaging, said.  “I’m really proud of the fact that Lunda is Wisconsin-based.  As we bring on additional contractors, we’re going to make every effort to utilize local contractors.”

That includes Medford-based James Peterson Sons, Inc.  As a subcontractor, they’re taking out and putting in 100,000 tons of material to build a temporary cofferdam for Lunda’s work.

“What’s nice is it’s 50 miles from home for us,” JPS President Jeff Peterson said.  “A number of our employees live in the area… We do a lot of recreating in Lake Wausau and a lot of people do, which is pretty exciting to keep that going for another hundred years.”

Consulting firm AECOM designed a replacement with two flapping crest gates and a unique “labyrinth” spillway that sends water zigging and zagging – perfect to handle a big flow and built to last as long as the original, if not longer.

Construction begins immediately, with an early 2029 completion date, ensuring the flow of this river – and its economic impact – carries on for generations to come.

“It’s huge to them, it’s huge to their families, their livelihood,” Larson said of the Domtar employees.  “The other businesses in town that see the dollars flow through their doors because there’s great paying jobs next door, it’s really cool to be part of it.”