"The Alpine dam was not compromised and the core was not affected," said Innsbrook's Ron James, vice president of communications, on Tuesday. "All concerned say there is no damage to the dam. "We are in a comfortable position at this point," added James. Last week an overflow pipe tube broke off at the rear embankment of the earthen dam at Alpine Lake, creating a 40-foot-wide hole in the embankment which resembled a bomb crater. Another 150-foot-long scour was created by the water which came out of the south side of the earthen dam. But after some emergency officials initially questioned the structural integrity of the dam and called for voluntary evacuation, the dam was declared safe on the afternoon of May 28. Work since that time has been done to seal the area around the pipe, said James, while a large channel has been dug at the spillway site to allow water to flow through at a lower level than before. "We cut the channel and widened the spillway," James explained. At the time the problem was first discovered last Tuesday, May 27, emergency officials blocked off the primary spillway at the center of the dam, using sandbags and a mixture of rocks and concrete to fill in the opening. Then Innsbrook officials employed the emergency spillway, located about 300 yards away. It has been converted into the primary spillway. Work began on that process on Wednesday, May 28. Innsbrook officials estimated it would take three to four weeks to complete the process. "The essential repairs are completed," said James. "The cosmetic repair (to the southernmost portion of the dam embankment) will take a month or two to finish. James added Innsbrook officials would continue to ask the public to stay off the slopes and shelf of the dam while the restoration process continued. "The restoration area is potentially dangerous," said James. In addition, Innsbrook officials said they had temporarily closed the Alpine Lake boat ramp. James said it would be reopened soon. The road which sits atop the dam is open and accessible, according to Innsbrook officials. When the problem was first noticed on Tuesday, May 27, the crater on the south side of the dam marked the position of where the 36-inch plastic pipe was expelled. Alpine dam contains the 236-acre lake at its southernmost point. The lake is approximately 11 miles around its perimeter and measures 90 feet at its deepest point. Innsbrook officials said the average depth of the lake is around 40 feet. Alpine Lake is the largest, private manmade lake in the state of Missouri, said Innsbrook officials. In addition to the fact the dam did not fail, Warren County emergency personnel said they were pleased with the county's address identification system which allowed them to contact many of the estimated 240 residents in the immediate area. By looking at map coordinates, officials said, they could determine the address and telephone number of most residents. "It was the first test of the emergency location system," said Warren County Sheriff Kevin Harrison. "It supplied us with a lot of the information we needed in this instance. "Six months ago, we wouldn't have been able to do this," Harrison added.