Pond Dredging Begins Monday at Patriots Park

Cranes will arrive at Patriots Park on Monday, Aug. 11 to lower a dredge barge into Barth Pond, to start a hydraulic dredging project at the popular Downers Grove pond.

The project, which is expected to take about four months, will remove around two feet of silt from the pond bottom using the floating barge. The dredging will increase the depth of the pond back to its original five foot depth, which is needed to help improve the health of the pond for plants and aquatic life.

“Removing the accumulated silt is a critical step in restoring the health of Barth Pond,” Paul Fyle said, superintendent of planning at Downers Grove Park District. “A deeper pond, together with the recent shorelines improvements, will result in less algae growth and allow more fish to survive the winter months.”

Fyle added that there are several different methods for a dredging a pond the size of the 5.8-acre Barth Pond, but “we believe we have chosen the approach that will have the least impact on the existing pond and Patriots Park.”

The silt removed by the barge will be pumped through pipes to a processing area at the east end of the park, where the silt will be dried using belt-press de-watering machines and loaded directly into trucks for removal. During this project the east parking lot at 55th Street and Grand Avenue will be closed to the public. The shoreline and pathways will remain open.

Barth Pond was originally constructed to serve as a Village of Downers Grove stormwater detention facility to receive water from neighborhoods to the southeast and southwest of Patriots Park, according the park district’s website.

Silt and algae have accumulated on the pond bottom decreasing it from the original 5-foot depth to approximately three feet or less in some parts. The shallow depth and conditions have results in poor aquatic habitat for fish and other animals found in an otherwise healthy pond, the park district said.

The park district is teaming up with the Village of Downers Grove to improve conditions at the pond.

Additional improvements are also planned for the west end of Patriots Park – renovation of the existing playground is expected to begin in early September.

PHOTO: A four-month dredging project is set to begin Monday, Aug. 11, at Patriots Park’s Barth Pond. Accumulated silt and algae will be dredged from the pond’s bottom and restore it back to its original depth. | Downers Grove Parks