Hadley Falls Fish Passage Project – A Fish Story Infrastructure Market n
By Project Team
Approximately ten years ago, Cianbro constructed the fish lift for the Holyoke Gas & Electric Hadley Falls Dam in Holyoke, Massachusetts. This project was the first phase in a fish passage project that would allow the free passage of fish through the existing dam. In December of 2014, the Cianbro Infrastructure Market team was awarded the contract to modify the existing fish passage and install a new exclusion rack/ screen system that will allow fish to pass freely from upstream back downstream. This work will represent the final stage of the decade-long fish passage project.
The project has three major components: n
CONSTRUCTION TRESTLE - The
initial component is for the construction of the access road across the Pan Am Railroad tracks to the temporary staging area, and the construction of an approximately 140 foot by 30 foot construction trestle out into the Connecticut River. This structure will be installed upstream of the dam and will be used for the loading of equipment and materials onto the barges. The Shugart and Flexi-Float barges will be assembled at the trestle and used to transport materials and equipment to the construction site at the dam. At the completion of the project, the trestle will be removed. UPSTREAM WORK – This
work includes the shop fabrication of a new Bascule Gate, Exclusion Rack, Fish Flume Extension, Low and Mid Level Bypass, a removable Upper Bypass Structure, Underwater Bulkhead, Pier Extension, Overhead Lifting Frame, Flow Block-
ing Panel, and Horizontal Steel Deck. Except for the Bascule Gate, all of the other items are being fabricated by Cianbro Fabrication and Coating Corporation in the Pittsfield and Baltimore fabrication shops. The installation includes the drilling and installation of five drilled shafts to support the Exclusion Rack. The drilled shafts are 49¾ inches outside diameter by 40 feet, with an additional 42 inch diameter rock socket drilled ten feet into the river bedrock. This work, including the installation of the required drilled shaft rebar cages and tremie concrete placements, is subcontracted out. The site assembly and installation of the above fabricated items will be installed by Cianbro personnel, with the assistance of subcontracted divers. Additionally the temporary drilled shaft template will also be assembled and installed by Cianbro personnel and the divers. n Prior
to any installation work, the following items are required to be performed by Cianbro: • Demolition of a Transmission Tower.
• Demolition of the existing Trash Rake System.
• Demolition of a portion of the existing timber crib dam, which is more than 100 years old and located only a few feet below water level. This demolition is required to access the work site with the barges.
• Removal of loose debris (trees) against the existing intake structure. • Removal of any required underwater rock to facilitate the new installations. DOWNSTREAM WORK – This
work, which will be performed at the same time as the upstream work, includes the construction of Plunge Pool, Apron Toe Protection, Training Wall, Flow Deflector, and Fishlift Entrance Wall.
Upon the installation of the Stop Logs just upstream of the Bascule Gate, the downstream work can proceed. The initial downstream work includes the construction of a sand bag cofferdam, approximately 14 feet high by 200 feet long, around the downstream work area. The subsequent work includes concrete and rock demolition and the drilling and grouting of dowels into the river bedrock. The concrete work, listed above, will follow and will be performed by a subcontractor. n Schedule
The Trestle Area work commenced during the first week in April. The access road and trestle construction was completed at the end May. Both the upstream and downstream work began in July, contingent upon the conclusion of the local fish migration period. With the start of the upstream work, the project will be working a seven day a week schedule, with two teams working three days a week and alternating Sundays. The downstream work completion date is November 30th and the upstream work is scheduled for completion on December 31, 2015. The Trestle Area restoration will continue until the spring of 2016. n Project
Team
The present Cianbro Project Team consists of David Schill, Dan Butler, Don
Smith, Bill Richardson, Ryan Hawkins, Darius Bors, Kate Ransom, Jacob Ramp, Todd Hoffa, Ron Ayres, Bob Costine, Bob Drzewiecki, Steve Peters, Jeff Sargis, Chase Simone, Frank Trumble; with support from Kim Sieber, Garrett McVaney, KJ Gould, and Kristen Williams, with additional assistance from
Cianbro’s Temporary Design Group.
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