North Canaan dam first on list for funds

NORTH CANAAN — Along with the great iron age in the Northwest Corner came a stone dam to harness the power of the Blackberry River. Built in conjunction with the 1847 Beckley Furnace, first a waterwheel and later a turbine were used to power bellows that blasted air into the furnace, sending the temperature high enough to melt iron from rock.

The dam is owned by the state, and is now called the Industrial Monument Dam, a name borrowed from the furnace’s designation as the state’s only historic industrial monument.

The Department of Environmental Protection’s Inland Water Resources Division is now, essentially, seeking a permit from itself to rehabilitate the crumbling dam. There are no local approvals to be sought.

However, there are potential impacts on the river, and so there will be an opportunity for public comment.

The DEP can also hold a public hearing, if there appears to be significant public interest or if there is a petition signed by 25 or more people and submitted to the state agency.

The Friends of Beckley Furnace has led local efforts to preserve the furnace. Its members continue to work on the former iron company office building,  and they are identifying related sites along the river.

Members are strongly in favor of the dam rehabilitation; it’s one project at the furnace site for which they won’t have to seek funding or do all the work themselves.

At the DEP, Peter Spangenberg said the project has been put on a fast track.

“We were originally going to do the Moodus Reservoir Dam first, but there were some permitting issue, so the North Canaan project is now at the top of our list.�

The public hearing and public comment period are still to be scheduled, and the state Office of Policy and Management has to approve the project. Spangenberg described the project as pretty much a certainty at this point.

Plans by the DEP include reconstructing the dam masonry, as well as both spillways. Considerable work is planned for the spillway area on the furnace side of the dam, beginning with a new upstream cutoff wall, a new sluice gate and piping.    

Spangenberg said some dredging will be required, at least for the new spillway construction. That will likely be done first, to help divert the river while the restoration work is being done. The plan is to approach it in three major stages.

What the DEP describes as decorative safety fencing will be installed at the top of the embankments.

The Friends of the Beckley Furnace have advised the DEP they want to have input into the type of fencing, according to Friends member Geoffrey Brown. They fear it will become an eyesore, but agree some measure of safety is needed. Currently, there is nothing to stop someone from walking off the top of the dam embankments, or from falling onto the remains of the turbine system.

It would also be nice to be rid of the rusted metal beams that jut up as part of the existing spillway gate.

The comment period is open until Sept. 9. Comments should be directed to Peter Spangenberg, DEP, Bureau of Water Protection and Land Reuse, Inland Water Resources Division, 79 Elm St., Hartford CT 06106-5127, or by calling 860-424-3870.