BURRILLVILLE – A long-awaited project that will bring needed improvements to a dam at the heart of one Burrillville village is now underway, with contractors set to complete most of the work this summer.
The Harrisville Mill Pond Dam will undergo more than $3 million in improvements in a project monitored by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and funded with loans from the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank.
SumCo Eco Contracting out of Peabody, Mass. has been hired to complete the dam rehabilitation, which will require lowering the pond by six feet from mid-July through November. The work will temporarily change the look of the area as the water drop pushes the shoreline around 20 feet inward.
Homes surrounding the pond and dam received notice of the project last week from the Department of Public Works.
“The east side of the waterfall by Freedom Park needs additional rock slope protection on the pond side to resist ice damage,” the notice explained. “The west side by the Assembly Theatre building needs an outlet pipe replaced from the sluice gate chamber to waterfall basin.”
Planning for the work has been underway since 2019, when RIDEM notified town officials of the need for repairs to the East Avenue dam following an inspection. At the time, the roughly 160-year-old structure was leaking, with large sinkholes developing in an area by the theater.
Built in 1857 at a cost of $6,000, the 140-foot-long, 18-foot-high granite and cement structure was considered one of the best built in Rhode Island at the time, according to local historians.
In 2020, members of the Burrillville Town Council approved a plan to borrow $1.8 million to finance the repairs. Immediate dangers were addressed, and town officials worked with state and federal authorities on design plans for the larger project.
But permitting from both RIDEM and the Army Corp of Engineers took time, and when the project finally went out to bid this February, the cost had nearly doubled. Councilors unanimously approved a second bond resolution for financing of an additional $1.8 million in March.
And last week, shovels finally hit the ground.
DPW Director Jeffrey McCormick noted that the work will reinforce the existing dam and and allow better operations of dam outlet discharge to prevent overtopping that nearly occurred during massive rainfall events in 2005 and 2010. SumCo will install a steel sheet pile cutoff wall to address what caused the sinkholes, with a piped siphon system from the upper waterfall to the lower basin to control water.
“We need to reestablish low level outlet pipe 12 feet below water level that was abandoned 100 years ago, when the mill was demolished,” the notice explained.
Councilors noted in March that it was Austin T. Levy who had a mill removed from the area years ago because it was blocking the view of the pond. A secondary gate, left behind from the mill had begun to rot, which is what caused the initial leak.
McCormick noted that most of the work on the dam will be finished by fall, with the full project completed by next spring, and that RIDEM personnel will be monitoring the construction.
The latest estimates put the total cost of the current work at $3,455,567.
Those with questions are instructed to contact McCormick at (401) 568-4440.
This provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for volunteer groups or individuals to clean the extended shoreline. Mill Pond has not been drained in over one hundred years. What will be found and removed will help keep this water body pristine.
It will take time to drain; we are hoping to organize a cleaning party in September-October. Anyone interested in volunteering for this project, please watch for more details if interested in helping. All community groups are welcome.