Heminway Pond Dam Removal

Princeton Hydro was contracted to provide engineering design, permitting, and construction oversight services for the removal of the Heminway Pond Dam located on Steele Brook in Connecticut. The project was part of a larger-scale Watershed Based Plan for Steele Brook Watershed and the restoration of fish passage along the Naugatuck River.

The project included the field assessment and design of the Heminway Pond Dam removal and the associated channel restoration and stabilization. Additionally, our team led the preparation of a sediment sampling plan in coordination with the Connecticut Department of Energy and the Environment (CTDEEP), sediment sampling and analysis, and a CTDEEP-approved sediment management plan. The impounded sediments contained metals and PAHs, with an average sediment depth of four feet.  One of the primary design goals was to retain and stabilize as much of the impounded sediment as possible on-site to reduce the dam removal construction costs.

The project also included the preparation of hydrologic and hydraulic analyses/modeling; federal, state, and local environmental permit packages, including a Section 106 Historic Consultation, and several public information meetings. To ensure constructibility of final designs and reduce construction costs, the project design and cost estimate were completed in coordination with RiverLogic Solutions, a contractor specializing in dam removal that frequently works in conjunction with Princeton Hydro.

Historic, archaeological, and social issues were a major concern at this site, so a detailed historic consultation and public outreach plan was integrated into the design process from the onset of the project.

Critical funding for implementation was provided by CTDEEP, and removal was completed in 2018.  Princeton Hydro worked closely with the City of Watertown and the selected contractor to oversee and guide construction, which entailed removal of the concrete spillway, excavation and relocation of hundreds of yards of impounded sediment, and reconstruction of over 1,000 feet of river channel.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency featured the Heminway Pond Dam Removal and Steele Brook Restoration project as a “Nonpoint Source Success Story.” Click here to read it now. Be sure to click on the link within the “Success Story” to view the dam removal video that was created as part of the project: