Church Manufacturing Co. Dam Removal and Chicopee Brook Restoration Project
View of Church Manufacturing Co. Dam spillway facing across Chicopee Brook toward Route 32 (facing west)
Project Summary
The Project involves the removal of the Church Manufacturing Company Dam and appurtenant features to restore the free-flowing riverine conditions in this segment of Chicopee Brook and reconnect and restore the river floodplain along the left side of the dam area.
The Church Manufacturing Company Dam (National Inventory of Dams (NID)# MA00614) is a low hazard dam constructed circa 1855 to impound water for mechanical power to the former Monson & Brimfield Manufacturing mill. The dam has outlived its original industrial purpose and currently serves no purpose for the owner. Despite its obsolescence, the dam continues to restrict the flow of Chicopee Brook and generally inhibit ecological conditions along the river corridor. The dam is currently unneeded infrastructure. The 2017 Phase I Inspection/Evaluation Report rated dam features as “deteriorated,” and the overall condition was stated as Poor.
The dam is located between Route 32 to the west and Bethany Road to the east. The dam is a run-of-river dam, approximately 13.4 feet high, with a reported maximum storage capacity of 145 acre-feet. It has an 81-foot long spillway constructed of masonry with concrete overlay at a two-horizontal to one-vertical (2H:1V) slope. The low-level outlet is an approximately 7.75-feet high by five-feet wide sluice gate. A stone masonry retaining wall is connected to the dam’s concrete spillway and borders the impoundment adjacent to Route 32. Concrete vertical walls border Chicopee Brook immediately downstream of the dam structure.
The dam low-level outlet was opened in May 2022 with authorization from the Monson Conservation Commission. Since that time, a stream channel with adjacent wetlands has formed throughout the 14-acre former impoundment area.
The proposed Project will remove manmade portions of the dam and establish a breach channel through the former spillway location. The existing training and retaining walls will be protected during and following construction through bank protection measures and establishment of a floodplain. Approximately 300-feet upstream of the spillway location, a stone riffle feature will be installed to maintain the stream grade and allow for improved channel formation, fish passage and habitat establishment. Most of the established stream and wetlands throughout the former impoundment area will remain in its current condition following dam removal.
No buildings or new structures are proposed as part of the Project.
Meetings and Opportunities to Provide Comments
Two virtual sessions will be held on Tuesday July 23, 2024, one from 10-11AM and one from 6-7PM. These will include a short (10-15 min) presentation on the project and then project representatives will be available for questions/comments from the public.
Contact Jennifer Burke at jennifer.burke@gza.com by July 22nd, 2024, for remote access information.
An in-person “open house” style session for the public to learn about the project or ask questions/provide comments is also scheduled for July 31, 2024 at the Monson Free Library in the DeSantis Community Room from 12PM-2PM. Please note that per the library’s requirements, we must state that the meeting is not sponsored or endorsed by the Monson Free Library and Reading Room Association.
Updates will be posted on this site as they are available