Location
UMass Amherst
Start Date
28-6-2011 1:55 PM
End Date
28-6-2011 2:15 PM
Description
The Acushnet River, a perennial stream located in southeastern Massachusetts, has its headwaters in the Town of Freetown, and flows generally southward through the Towns of Acushnet, New Bedford, and Fairhaven to discharge into New Bedford Harbor. The river drains a watershed of approximately 15 mi2 with land use predominantly urban and suburban land. Historically, the Acushnet River was used as an industrial waterway during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Dams were constructed along the river to provide hydropower for numerous mills. These dams impaired the function of the Acushnet River to serve as habitat for resident aquatic life and as a conduit for a variety of seasonally-transient aquatic life, including anadromous fish such as river herring. The first obstruction along the river is the Sawmill Dam, an earth fill dam with a 118-ft wide concrete and stone spillway approximately 4.6 ft high. The Hamlin Street Dam, located 0.9 mi north of the Sawmill Dam, is a public roadway over a former mill dam which passes the Acushnet River through three granite block culverts. An 11-ft high dam at the New Bedford Reservoir formerly posed a third obstruction to fish passage along the river; however, in 2002, a state-of-the-art Denil fish way was installed at the outlet from the reservoir. The Acushnet River Fish Passage Restoration Project reestablished river continuity with the goal of improved migratory fish passage from Buzzards Bay up to the New Bedford Reservoir by constructing nature-like fishways (a stone flow-constrictor/step pool system at the Sawmill Dam site and a stone step-weir system at the Hamlin Street Dam), bank reconstruction/stabilization, and modification of the Sawmill and Hamlin Street dams. Construction was initiated in July 2007 and completed in September 2008. This presentation "'ill describe the justification for and engineering designs of the fishways incorporated in this project.
Session C5- Acushnet River fish passage restoration project
UMass Amherst
The Acushnet River, a perennial stream located in southeastern Massachusetts, has its headwaters in the Town of Freetown, and flows generally southward through the Towns of Acushnet, New Bedford, and Fairhaven to discharge into New Bedford Harbor. The river drains a watershed of approximately 15 mi2 with land use predominantly urban and suburban land. Historically, the Acushnet River was used as an industrial waterway during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Dams were constructed along the river to provide hydropower for numerous mills. These dams impaired the function of the Acushnet River to serve as habitat for resident aquatic life and as a conduit for a variety of seasonally-transient aquatic life, including anadromous fish such as river herring. The first obstruction along the river is the Sawmill Dam, an earth fill dam with a 118-ft wide concrete and stone spillway approximately 4.6 ft high. The Hamlin Street Dam, located 0.9 mi north of the Sawmill Dam, is a public roadway over a former mill dam which passes the Acushnet River through three granite block culverts. An 11-ft high dam at the New Bedford Reservoir formerly posed a third obstruction to fish passage along the river; however, in 2002, a state-of-the-art Denil fish way was installed at the outlet from the reservoir. The Acushnet River Fish Passage Restoration Project reestablished river continuity with the goal of improved migratory fish passage from Buzzards Bay up to the New Bedford Reservoir by constructing nature-like fishways (a stone flow-constrictor/step pool system at the Sawmill Dam site and a stone step-weir system at the Hamlin Street Dam), bank reconstruction/stabilization, and modification of the Sawmill and Hamlin Street dams. Construction was initiated in July 2007 and completed in September 2008. This presentation "'ill describe the justification for and engineering designs of the fishways incorporated in this project.
Comments
Mr. Lee Becker is a Professional Engineer with more than 40 years of experience managing civil and environmental engineering projects; including serving as project and program manager for natural resources restoration projects across the country. He obtained his Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Nebraska in 1971. In 1981 he received a Master of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Nebraska. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in AK, IL, MI, MN, MN, and KY. Prior to his employment with EA, be served as State Hydrologist with the Nebraska Department of Water Resources. He currently serves as a Federal Program Manager and EA’sChief Engineer.