Wisconsin dam undergoes demolition after 10 years of dispute

An 81-year-old dam is being demolished after more than 10 years of dispute, a report by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says. The Estabrook Park dam in Milwaukee County has started and major demolition is scheduled for March.

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) awarded an $844,421 contract to Terra Engineering & Construction Corp., Madison, Wisconsin. Ice barriers will be removed from the section of the dam closest to the south shore of the Milwaukee River Feb. 27 and 28. Demolition of the dam with floodgates and spillway will be done in March.

There are three pieces to the dam, including a dam with floodgates that extends from the north bank of the river to an island midstream, a concrete and stone fixed crest spillway that reaches from the island to the south bank of the river and a series of concrete ice barriers upstream from the dam section with the floodgates.

A Terra employee used an excavator to break down the southernmost part of the spillway. The concrete and stone rubble will be left on the riverbed temporarily to create a ramp for the equipment used during demolition.

MMSD received $2.3 million in grants that will pay for the dam’s removal. The district estimates it will take $1 million to create an engineering design, postdemolition restoration of the river banks and removal of a temporary access road.

The dam, which was built around 1937, has not been operating since 2008 when the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) ordered the previous owners, Milwaukee County, to open the gates after finding safety problems.

Dam restoration would have repaired and upgraded the structure, would have costed $4.1 million. Operating and maintaining a dam would have cost an additional $160,000 per year.

The report says benefits of the dam’s removal includes better water quality and return of aquatic plants, which started when the gates were open in 2008. All property will be returned to the county for park use once the dam is demolished.

Glendale Mayor Bryan Kennedy says in the report that the city is seeking grants from federal and government agencies and private foundations to help nearby property owners pay for removing docks, boat houses and seawalls.