OLD TOWN, Maine — Ellsworth-based R.F. Jordan & Sons Construction Inc. has been selected to take the lead in the removal of the Great Works dam and related efforts to restore fisheries to the Penobscot River.
The removal of the 19-foot-tall Old Town dam is scheduled to begin in June and be completed in November.
The Penobscot River Restoration Trust announced the $3.5 million contract on Tuesday. The restoration work is funded by a grant through the U.S. Department of Commerce, according to a trust press release.
The trust said the removal of the Great Works and other dam-related projects on the Penobscot River will open nearly 1,000 miles of waterway to 11 species of fish that have been blocked by the dams for nearly 200 years.
In 2010, the trust purchased the Great Works, Veazie and Howland dams from PPL Corp. with plans to dismantle the Great Works dam this summer and the Veazie dam sometime in 2013 or 2014. The Howland dam will be decommissioned and bypassed by a fish lift. A dam in Milford also is scheduled to get a fish lift.
Black Bear Hydro LLC purchased six dams from PPL in 2009. The company received approval in September of 2011 to upgrade the Stillwater and Orono dams to help make up for the loss of energy production potential that will stem from the demolition of the Great Works and Veazie dams.
The trust said hydropower generation will stay at today’s level or may increase after the dam removals and upgrades are complete.
“We are pleased to join the Great Works dam removal team. It’s an exciting job for us, and we are looking forward to working on a project with such a wide range of support that benefits our region in many different ways,” said R.F. Jordan & Sons Construction owner Patrick Jordan.
Well now that the pike are swimming down pushaw stream into the penobscot, this just keeps sounding like a better idea for all fish! I think this could ruin fishing on the penobscot.
What a waste, power generation before fish always. Enviro’s getting their fund from power generaters who can charge more for their power now.. the fish is a fishy story
Great !!! Let the kids go fishing…!!!
Problem with restoring sea runs of fish lays far at sea; not the dam head….new research now points the finger of blame at overfishing, warming, changes in migration patterns etc. Always remember most of Maine’s dams were operating by the mid 1800’s; but the migratory fish runs started their steep decline in the 60’s and 70’s and this decline still hasn’t been explained.
Restoring alewives, herring, etc. won’t restore fishing, esp. native salmon. The fact that you can’t eat any of the fish potentially restored has dulled the voter’s enthusiasm for dam removal, I mean what’s the point?
Probably nothing to do with the voluminous industrial pollution introduced into the rivers beginning in the late 50’s and continuing through the early 70’s.