A River on the Mend: Patapsco restoration in progress

February 4, 2011 | Dams & Dam Removal, Restoring Rivers

Serena McClain
Director, River Restoration, Federal Grants

2011 is the Year of the River, with unprecedented dam removal and river restoration projects happening nationwide. This is one of a series of posts where we'll be celebrating dam removal successes and updating you on current dam removal efforts.

Significant progress has been made at the Simkins Dam removal on the Patapsco River since construction began this fall. In fact, the Simkins Dam is no longer. Instead, the steel that once bound the structure together has been taken to a recycling facility, and the concrete has been handed over to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation where it waits to eventually be used as part of a larger oyster habitat project in the Bay.

In addition to removal of the physical structure itself, the contractor, John W. Gleim, Jr. Inc., completed the rock treatment at Thistle Creek and most all of the work on the stream banks. This entailed grading and building fabricated soil lifts that you can see along the right bank in the bottom picture below. Once the weather warms, we will be back out at the site planting the banks, former mill race, etc. with native grasses, trees and shrubs. Spring brings good things for the Patapsco!

I want to touch briefly on what we are witnessing as the site evolves. Through a rigorous design study led by inter-fluve, inc., it was determined that a natural approach with a self-restoring channel was the right method for the Patapsco River. It truly is amazing to watch the river reclaim her channel. Again, cold temperatures and winter’s normally low flows mean we are seeing a slower evolution of the channel following the initial dramatic draw down. Walking back on the newly exposed banks, the material is as we expected…sand, gravel, and rock. Spring rains and snow melt will continue to reform the channel.

Spring also kicks off our next round of monitoring. McCormick Taylor will be out gathering the first round of post-removal survey data. The Maryland Biological Stream Survey will be out this spring and summer collecting corresponding biological data. We also just trained our first group of Patapsco Storm Watch volunteers. These folks will serve as our eyes and ears on the ground, reporting back following two-year storm events. If you are interested in volunteering, please email outreach@americanrivers.org with "Patapsco Volunteer" in the subject line so that we can contact you.

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