Bradford Dam - A Challenging Site

For more than 6 years, WPWA has diligently worked to repair the fish ladder and portage path at the Bradford Dam. Thankfully, those repairs are nearly complete, or are they? In late 2008 the initial repair was completed which included modifying the entrance to the ladder and replacing all the ladder's baffles and racks. No formal portage path had existed prior to this project which left boaters at the site to navigate around or over the ladder. With an engineered path installed and a fence to keep the public off the ladder, all involved thought the project was complete. Unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans.

Mere days after the December 2008 repair was completed and before any vegetation could be established, a 10 year rain event occurred which inundated the entire site. So fierce were the flows that the ladder itself was totally submerged underwater. The Pawcatuck River knocked down the fence, washed away the fresh topsoil, and destabilized the path. Thankfully there was no ill effect on the ladder improvements but the portage path setback sent WPWA back to the drawing and fundraising table.

A design more respectful of the river's power was created by WPWA and funding was secured from the USDA's NRCS and the US Fish & Wildlife Service to implement the new portage plan. The latest improvements, now underway, included bordering (or armoring as we call it) the path with large boulders and crushed stone and replacing the fence with grating that will cover the entire ladder and prevent anyone from accidentally falling into the workings of the ladder.

Instead of working against Mother Nature, we are now working with her. Over the coming years we expect her to flood the site again and bring in sediment that will serve as the catalyst for natural vegetation to once again cover the site. But underneath that vegetation will be a stable engineered path built to withstand even the most extreme flooding events. The next time you're portaging around the Bradford Dam, WPWA hopes you'll never know we were there!

Our goal is to provide you safe public access to our rivers by implementing projects that appear to be as all natural as possible. We hope these photos will help give you a better understanding of the project and we will bring you more photos and information over the coming weeks when the project is 100% complete. So keep close tabs on this blog and your local newspaper!

Before 7/31/09

After 12/02/09