Politics & Government

Town Begins Reconstruction at Center Falls Dam on Monday

The reconstruction of the Center Falls Dam is slated to begin March 25, according to town officials.

The reconstruction of the Center Falls Dam is slated to begin March 25, according to town officials.

Town Engineer Beth Rudolph recently discussed work that was previously completed at the site and what work lies ahead.

"One of the two gate valves at the dam was replaced in 2003, and the second one was supposed to be replaced at that time but (the town) did not have the financial resources to do it then so it was put on hold for several years," Rudolph said. "This project involves replacing the second gate valve. Unfortunately, in January just as we had a site contractor on board we determined that part of the cascade on the dam had deteriorated and had given way and there was scouring under the cascade so we have expanded the scope of the contract to include demolishing and reconstructing the cascade at the dam as well."

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The repairs to the cascade are expected to cost about $280,000, and the entire project will take several months to complete, according to town officials.

The reconstruction work, which will be handled by Hudson, Mass.-based New England Infrastructure, is Project III of the town's Flood Mitigation Program.

Find out what's happening in Winchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The sidewalk on the cascade side of the bridge (Main Street between Mystic Valley Parkway and Converse Place) will be closed off for construction," reads a press statement on the town website. "The crosswalks on each side of the construction zone, as well as the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street, will be fully accessible."

While construction is underway at the site, "we will be blocking off a section of Main Street from Mystic Valley Parkway at the bridge and you'll have to walk around the two crosswalks that we have at Converse Place near the ice cream store is. That will be an area where we store equipment," said Jay Gill, director of the Department of Public Works.

For more information, contact the Department of Public Works at 781-721-7100.


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