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| Running the Broken Dam |
The forecast was mixed with rain and thunderstorms early and late, but we were able to catch the window in the middle to run the Wood/Pawcatuck from Alton to Bradford. The river was at a nice level -3 feet, 250 cfs on the Wood River Junction gage.
Due to work on the bridge below the dam, we had to lift our boats over construction barriers to get the put-in. Once there, the river was flowing nice. We had an easy run through the broken dam at Burdickville, stopped for lunch and a fire at Burlingame Canoe Campsites (thanks Jim), and did a first run through the new dam at Bradford.
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| Lunch at Burlingame |
I did a little research on the old Bradford Dam. The original dam was a stone and timber structure built between sometime 1819 and 1846 to divert water to the Bradford textile mills. Built on top of a natural falls, the 6-foot dam spanned the entire width of the river.
Since removing the dam would drop the water level upstream by about 5 feet and negatively impact wetlands, the decision was made to replace the existing dam with the new rock ramp structure. This ramp is made up of 6 gradually ascending stone weirs, which serve like terraced steps. Pools between the steps give fish a place to rest on their way upstream. Gaps in the weirs create channels for water to flow and fish to swim, including the main current down the middle that forms a nice channel for paddlers.
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| New fish weirs at Bradford |
The Bradford Dam is just one of a series of restoration projects on the Pawcatuck River. In 2010, the Lower Shannock Falls Dam was removed and replaced with a short rapid that allows fish to swim upstream, and paddlers to run downstream. In 2013, a rock ramp was built on the downstream side old Kenyon Dam. In 2016, the White Rock Dam in Westerly was removed. Combined with fish ladders at Potter Hill and Upper Shannock Falls, the removal or modification of these dams has opened up 31 miles of the Pawcatuck River to migratory fish.
Hopefully the water will be at a good level when we do our Bradford to Potter Hill trip on August 18th. It will be nice to run down the weirs rather than portage like we had to do with the old dam.
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| The crew at the put-in |
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