The Dam Project Continues (Pun Intended)

The Mill Pond boat ramp will likely be closed into the summer as the .

“The project is about 80 percent complete,” said Diane Petit, public affairs officer for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“June at the latest. July for sure.”

When asked about those dates today, Petit would not commit to that time frame, saying only that the project is not experiencing any problems and is continuing as expected.

Watermark is the company that was hired to complete repairs to the dam. The dam, located in the northeast corner of the pond, is being restructured to meet current safety and performance standards. This marks the first repair work done to the dam since it was built in 1970 by the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS), a division of USDA.

The improvements are being conducted by NCRS through the Watershed Rehabilitation Program. Massachusetts is one of 11 states in the country that received a share of $45 million in funding to rehabilitate aging flood control structures.

When completed, the Nichols Dam will be up to current safety and performance standards. At that time, it will be capable of protecting the community in a “100-year storm” event, withstanding a possible maximum precipitation of 26 inches of rain in six hours.

According to Petit, the project construction cost is just under $1.9 million and the funding is part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) passed in 2009.

When asked about the perceived expansion of the work area in the past few weeks including what appears to be a newly plowed dirt road, Petit said, “The expansion is part of the project. It has now moved into a different phase.”

The work was originally scheduled to end in September 2011, but that date was delayed after an inspection revealed several pieces of subpar concrete material installed into the wall of the dam. According to the Watermark supervisor, the pieces had to be removed and replaced.

Petit said, “As long as the work is going on there, the boat ramp will remain closed. It’s a public safety issue.”

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