Union Village Dam Removal

Wakefield, New Hampshire | The Siemon Company

The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services identified the 1861 concrete and masonry Union Village Dam as high-hazard and deficient in a number of areas. The owners’ preferred option was to remove the dam to reduce potential hazards and remove a hydraulic and aquatic organism passage barrier from the river, restoring the river to a more natural state. D&K provided site evaluation, survey, plans, specifications, an opinion of probable construction cost, and construction observation.

Project Elements

• Removal design for a 15-ft-high, 103-ft-long dam impounding two acres
• Permitting assistance included NHDES Wetlands Dredge & Fill, NHDHR – Section 106 Historical Review, and Army Corps of Engineers Programmatic General Permit

Sustainable Elements

The project removed an artificial barrier to sediment transfer and aquatic organism passage.