Courtesy Photo | Tree debris being removed at Woonsocket Dam. The USACE Regional Rivers Repair Fleet...... read more read more
Repair work to the Woonsocket Falls Dam, part of the Woonsocket Flood Damage Reduction Project in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, is complete, and its four gates are fully operational. The $322,124 project, which began in March 2024 was completed on June 20, ahead of schedule.
The USACE Regional Rivers Repair Fleet (R3F) from Great Lakes and Ohio Division, Huntington District, Marietta Repair Station, Marietta, Ohio performed the work. Repair work to the dam included replacing all 16 tainter gate cables with sockets. All 16 cables, eight trunnion bearings, and more than 70 plus grease points were lubricated across the dam. The team also removed tree debris that was under and up against the gates.
The aging cables were degrading and had not been replaced since 2011. In the spring of 2023, the wire rope cables on Gate 4 broke during operation. An inspection revealed that the wire rope cables on all four gates were degraded below the waterline beyond safe levels. The Woonsocket Falls Dam project team and members of the District’s Engineering team collaborated and made an emergency repair in the early winter of 2023 using a synthetic rope which allowed the project to open one gate to pass river flows until a permanent repair could be made. The team also identified submerged wire rope lubrication specifications and procedures as well as a wire rope engineering inspection and replacement schedule. The team received an award for their efforts in making the temporary repair.
The New England District took over operation and maintenance (O&M) of the Woonsocket Flood Damage Reduction Project in Woonsocket in January 2009 in accordance with Section 2875 of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2008. The project was transferred from the city of Woonsocket to the District. USACE assumed O&M activities in July 2009 upon receipt of funding. Woonsocket is managed by the West Hill Dam project office staff, located in Uxbridge, Massachusetts.
The Woonsocket Flood Damage Reduction project protects industrial and commercial establishments and densely populated residential areas from flood flows on the Blackstone, Peters and Mill Rivers. It was constructed in response to flood damage that occurred due to heavy rains in August 1955 that caused $22 million in damage. The project was constructed in two phases: construction of the Upper Woonsocket section along the Blackstone River was completed in 1960 at a cost of $5.4 million, and construction of the Lower Woonsocket section along the Blackstone River and two of its tributaries, the Mill River and Peters River, was completed in 1967 at a cost of $8.3 million. Since 2009 when the New England District took over the project, it has saved $106,171,200 current year dollars in damages.
For more information about this project, visit the District website at https://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Flood-Risk-Management/RhodeIsland/Woonsocket/.
Photos provided by Joe Zanca.
| Date Taken: | 06.25.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.10.2024 11:08 |
| Story ID: | 480483 |
| Location: | WOONSOCKET, RHODE ISLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 49 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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