BELCHERTOWN — Repairs to the Upper Bondsville Dam, which suffered from decades of poor maintenance, are nearly complete and have remained under budget.
The repairs, which began in August after the dam’s fate had been in jeopardy, were originally set to conclude at the end of October. But aside from removing stormwater controls and establishing sod, the project is complete and all machine work is finished, said Daniel Beaudette, a lawyer for the Belchertown Land Trust, which acquired the dam in 2006.
Repairs were sorely needed, Beaudette said. In 2008, the Office of Dam Safety called the dam a “significant hazard” and ordered the structure either repaired or removed.
Dam conditions were so poor that there was no way to know just how much longer it would last, Beaudette added, and its high hazard rating meant that failure could lead to loss of life and significant damage to surroundings. But now, he says, the dam has “a new lease on life.”
The project is also set to conclude under budget. Consulting firm Milone & MacBroom estimated in 2010 that repairs would cost around $425,000, while a second study suggested that this figure would be closer to $483,800.
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(c) Daily Hampshire Gazette, 2018