Bit by Bit, Pawtuxet Falls Dam is Chipped Away [Video]

The largest-ever dam removal project in Rhode Island history began this week on the Pawtuxet River.

The removal of the concrete spillway of the Pawtuxet Falls Dam will restore the ecosystem to a more natural state and should help native migratory fish like river herring and shad reach upriver spawning habitats for the first time in more than 100 years.

The dam removal will also cause the water level behind the dam to drop and narrow. This change will be noticeable at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet and along Warwick Avenue, according to a sign posted on the bridge where onlookers have gathered since the project started on Tuesday. The river will still be deep enough for boating and fishing.

The dam was built in 1921.

The Pawtuxet River Authority’s contractor, SumCo Eco-Contracting of Salem, Mass., positioned large sandbags behind the dam and began chipping away at the concrete face of the spillway using a hydraulic hammer and small excavator.

After breaching the dam by creating a slot in the spillway, the river elevation will be allowed to drop over the course of about a week. The rest of the spillway will be removed section by section using sandbags to isolate work areas.

The entire removal should be complete before the end of August, according to the river authority.

As the water level falls, new areas of riverbank will be exposed and SumCo will plant native vegetation along the banks. Upstream areas including at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet will be planted in September.

You can follow the removal project on the Pawtuxet Falls Dam Removal blog.

The dam removal is sponsored by the Pawtuxet River Authority, the Watershed Council and project partners include the cities of Cranston and Warwick, Friends of the Pawtuxet, the Pawtuxet Village Association, the state Department of Environmental Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to name a few.

The project cost is $600,000.

The first dam at the site was built in the 1700s for a grist mill. The concrete dam being removed right now was installed in 1924 by the Providence Water Supply Board.