Goal: Get water over Beckley dam, not through it

NORTH CANAAN — Work has begun to preserve the dam at the Beckley Iron Furnace site on Lower Road.

The old stone structure on the Blackberry River could have been slated for removal, but it has been renamed the Industrial Monument Dam, and is now considered a valuable historic asset. It is part of property owned by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which is funding the $1.3-million project.

Credit for the project goes unofficially to the Friends of Beckley Furnace, a volunteer group that began working in the 1990s to impress the powers that be in Hartford to recognize the significance of the site.

Beckley was one of three blast furnaces along Lower Road, and part of the Iron Age that lasted in the Northwest Corner into the early part of the 20th century.

Grant funding was secured and the furnace restored and turned into an educational site — one that attracts lots of visitors.

The Friends also convinced the state to purchase the old Barnum and Richardson ironworks office building adjacent to the site, and have been working for years on its restoration. Continuing archaeology work at the dam and at the furnace are ongoing goals.

The DEP fast-tracked the dam project and issued a permit in late 2008; it is valid for three years.

Last month, a crew from New England Infrastructure, based in Hudson, Mass., began work, which required a temporary access road to the dam and protection for the river.

Actual work on the dam began last week with the installation of large, flat beams that were pounded deep into the riverbed behind the dam to divert water around the work areas.

Another crew is working simultaneously on the renovation of the Samuel Forbes Bridge (named for an iron industry magnate) about a mile west on Lower Road. That project is expected to be done by the end of August, so the road can be reopened for school buses.

Dam project supervisor Rick Watterson said the dam work will probably be completed before the bridge.

It is not a large project, he explained, but the work is complicated by internal and adjoining structures that were installed as part of, initially, a waterwheel, and, later, a turbine.

Pipes as large as 3 feet in diameter channeled water to the waterwheel or turbine, which in turn powered a bellows that blasted air into the furnace to fuel high temperatures needed to melt iron ore.

“There is more water going through the dam than over the top,� Watterson said. “Most of the original stones will remain, and we will repoint them to make it solid again.�

A saving grace for the dam may be the silt that has built up nearly to the top behind it. It will remain, but not as a support.

“We’re not dredging the river,� Watterson said. “It’s too big a job and there’s no place to put the stuff.�

The plan, simply put, is to pour a concrete wall behind the dam to properly support it. The spillway will be rebuilt; this one will be workable. The new spillway will allow for the removal of the rusted old beams that had been used to close off the old ones, which had become an eyesore.

The large turbine pipes that exit that end of the dam will be left in place. An area of missing stones on that side will be replaced with concrete and a facing that resembles stones.

Two pipes emerge from the center of the dam. The upper one will be sealed off. The lower one will remain open. On the far side of the dam, a waterfall spills over a sloping rock wall.

Watterson explained the waterfall is the result of a leak in the dam, and said it is actually flooding and eroding the southern riverbank. Repairs will preserve the cascade, but send it on a more natural course around the end of the dam and into the river proper.

“There will be more water going over the dam, and the new spillway will be workable, used for repairs or emergencies. The gate will be motorized, using a portable motor that can be brought here and plugged in.�