LOCAL

Plans to remove Ballville Dam on schedule for 2018

City to raze historic structure in phases starting in July

Daniel Carson
The News-Messenger
Removal of the Ballville Dam is expected to be completed by September. The overall project is slated for completion Dec. 31.

FREMONT - Contractors will start chipping away at the Ballville Dam in July, as the city moves ahead with removal of one of Fremont's historic landmarks.

City engineer Tucker Fredericksen said equipment staging begins in June, with July 2 being the first day workers can enter the Sandusky River and start dam removal under the city's Section 404 permit with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Large track hoes with mounted jackhammers will methodically take down the dam's remaining concrete structure, Fredericksen said.

Initial estimates put the dam removal project's cost at $11.5 million.

Fredericksen said that, due to savings on the project's first phase, the final cost is projected to be $9.5 million. But weather conditions in the summer and fall could play a part in whether the project finishes with the $9.5 million price tag.

"It could be more; it could be less," Fredericksen said.

The dam's concrete structure should be down by September, said Safety Service Director Kenneth Frost.

An MWH Constructors project schedule shows the dam's carbon feed building is slated for demolition in June and July.

The dam will be demolished to the level of the sediment impounded behind it by the middle of July, according to the schedule, with full demolition substantially complete by the third week of August.

Seawall demolition is scheduled for two weeks in September, with a permanent fence installed by the seawall site.

In October and November, MWH will oversee permanent seeding and tree and wetland planting upstream and at the dam site.

The city is required to convert 21 acres back to wetlands as part of the project.

Thousands of mussels were relocated upstream last year to the Wolf Creek Park area, Frost said.

The overall project is slated for completion by Dec. 31, according to the MWH schedule.

When the first notches were cut into the dam in September 2017, residents found a hodgepodge of items in the suddenly shallow river including a pickup truck, bowling ball and a pistol.

Frost said MWH and the city are not anticipating discovery of any additional submerged items to be uncovered in the Sandusky River.

But Fredericksen said money has been budgeted for removal of rubble and any additional unexpected items associated with dam removal.

He said the city had not seen any substantial sediment deposits develop since the dam notching was completed in September.

The city is thinking ahead, post-dam removal, about how it can create what Frost called  "useful areas" along the Sandusky River and attract more residents and visitors.

After decades of debate, removal of the 105-year-old Ballville Dam is expected to be completed by September.

The safety service director said the city has been holding monthly collaborative meetings with the Sandusky County Park District, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Ballville Township officials and the city of Tiffin about recreation and tourism opportunities along the river.

Mayor Danny Sanchez said the city wants to take advantage of recreational and outdoor activities that could be opened up with the dam's removal.

"I believe it's underutilized," Sanchez said of the river.

One of the mayor's visions for the future involves kayakers and canoers paddling down the river underneath both downtown Fremont bridges.

Sanchez said some of the collaborative conversations between Fremont and Tiffin officials involved connecting a bike trail between Sandusky and Seneca County along the river.

"I think we're all looking at things in our communities we can highlight," hesaid.

The fate of the Ballville Dam, which was built in 1913, has been debated for decades. The structure, which measures about 400 feet in length and 34 feet in height, originally was built as a hydroelectric generation facility.

Mike Wilkerson, a fishing management supervisor with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said his agency had tried to get interest going on the Ballville Dam's removal more than 20 years ago.

Wilkerson said ODNR has been pleased with the project's progression after waiting through numerous legal delays.

The Sierra Club of Ohio dismissed its federal lawsuit blocking removal of the Ballville Dam in May 2017, giving the City of Fremont the green light to begin the long-delayed demolition project.

ODNR had conducted a three-year study of the river's fish species prior to the start of dam removal, with sampling done on species above and below the dam.

Wilkerson said the agency didn't find any walleye or white bass above the dam during the study period.

"We'll start to see those fish above the dam once the dam is removed," he said.

A three-year follow up fish study by ODNR will start in the spring of 2019.

Wilkerson said ODNR will look at fish usage above the former dam site and compare it to samples taken while the Ballville Dam existed.

dacarson@gannett.com

419-334-1046

Twitter: @DanielCarson7

An ice control structure consisting of 15 pillars about 200 feet downstream from the dam was built In October 2016.