The Dam Restoration Project is Complete!

The dam repair project started Aug. 24, 2020. The primary contractor was H.E. Callahan.  They in turn contracted out the site work & coffer dam to St. Laurent & Son. The project started by placing large sandbags in the water, in front of the dam. There were approximately 100 large sandbags used. Once these bags were in place, the dam was opened, allowing the immediate area around the dam to be drained.

Once drained, it became apparent that the piers surrounding the steel dam plate were more degraded than thought. The decision was made to remove a good portion of each pier down to sound concrete. Contingencies in the project budget were exhausted to cover this unplanned work.

The steel dam plate was shipped to a vendor for sand blasting and epoxy painting. Once painted, we installed new bearing material for the two gates prior to reassembly.

After the degraded concrete was removed, a mesh of steel rebar was installed (original concrete had no rebar). Form boards were installed, and new concrete poured.

Large, pointed stones were place downstream to prevent scouring of the spillway. The steel work and dam plate were put back in place. After confirming no leaks in the dam plate gasket, the sandbags were removed. New riprap (small sharp crushed ledge) was installed on both sides, upstream of the dam. H.E. Callahan continued working on the concrete foundation on the south side of the bridge for Readfield.

During this project we realized that the east side of the area had some drainage issues from road runoff. Readfield split this cost with us. This caused a $1400 overage from the original $75k budget. TPA directors approved this prior to completion.

Although the project completion was completed mid-October, the site contractor came back a week later to move some large stones from in front of the dam that were too close to the gates. It was not noticed due to cloudy water.  Unfortunately, the west gate framework was damaged during this work. Again, this was not noticed until the water cleared. A small wooden coffer dam was built and place in front of the damaged gate structure and rework performed. This was completed on November 24.

The TPA Dam Restoration Project is complete. The dam is working efficiently. The leaks have been repaired and and we expect the the dam to be in good working order for decades to come.

We've Met Our Goal! Thank You Members and Friends!

"Before" Pictures.