Work Begins on Fish Ladder

06/28/2006 - By JON MCGRATH

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The construction phase of the Island Creek Fish Ladder project got underway this week. This past Wednesday, a large group of local volunteers, led by Chad Conway, an Eagle Scout candidate from Duxbury, surveyed the stream to identify and remedy obstructions to fish passage. The program was guided by Russ Cohen, Riverways Advocate, Mass Riverways Program, who instructed the group on appropriate actions to optimize fish passage but minimize ecological impact. The group worked several rigorous hours to remove a number of logs and debris that had collected over the past years obstructing fish passage. This is an ongoing program that will be stewarded by the local Boy Scout troop during important upcoming years.

The next day, Charter Environmental, the winning bidder to complete the construction of the reengineered Tremont Street ladder and Elm St water level controls, began deploying equipment streamside. Their first order of business was installing an access road adjacent to Tremont Street and preparing the nearby area for the upcoming construction. The ladder will be assembled using pre-cast modules that will be lowered into place with a crane and then bolted together and sealed. Assuming no delays, the modules will be ready in early July.

A preconstruction meeting was held late Thursday and project director David Barnes, of Charter, reviewed the plans for the project. He expressed particular concern about the water level in the system, which are at historic highs, especially in light of the recent rain. This may cause some delay as the first project task, removing the fish weir sections running beneath Tremont Street requires the Mill Pond to be dammed for some period of time.

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