With Lake Lanier currently at full pool, some residents say they cannot drive their boats under the Wahoo Creek Bridge on Mount Vernon Road in North Hall.

Joanna Cloud, executive director of the Lake Lanier Association, said the bridge is the lowest elevation bridge on Lake Lanier. She said she has spoken with local residents about the bridge.

“When the lake gets to full pool or near full pool, there are people who have trouble getting their boats underneath the bridge,” Cloud said. “There’s about 100 homes backed up in there that basically get stranded from the main part of the lake.”

Cloud said boaters have had this problem before when the lake level gets higher.

According to data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lake Lanier measured at 1,071 feet, which is the full pool level, on Thursday, Aug. 16. The elevation of the bridge is 1,078 feet.

Chris Arthur, chief ranger with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Lake Lanier office, said there are currently only 6.3 feet between the lake and the bottom of the bridge, so many boats would not be able to fit. The corps publishes information about lake levels at ramps and bridges on their website.

Lake Lanier has been at full pool for most of the summer due to heavy rains. In July, the area received 2.59 inches of rain, and June was an especially wet month, with the area getting almost six inches of rain then.

Thea Larski, who lives in the area, said she has spoken with local and state government leaders about having the bridge raised. When the water is too high to get under the bridge, boaters can only access Squirrel Creek and part of Wahoo Creek. Larski said she has a boat that rides higher on the water and is cut off from the rest of the lake when water levels rise.

Georgia Department of Transportation district spokeswoman Katie Strickland said the bridge is not on the agenda for replacement and is structurally sound.