- Visual inspections, including: emergency, 6-month follow-up and Phase 1
- Phase II investigations, including seepage and stability and hydrologic and hydraulic analyses
- Engineering and design of remedial measures to address deficiencies at Rockwell Pond Dam and Barrett Park Dam
- Permitting
- Grant assistance
- Bid and construction-phase services
- Emergency Action Plan (EAP) development and updates
GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. has been providing dam engineering services for the City of Leominster since 2006 when we conducted Phase I Inspections and prepared Emergency Action Plans (EAP) for five City-owned High Hazard dams. Since that time, we have also prepared EAPs for their Significant Hazard dams and provided updates to the City’s EAPs.
GZA has been performic periodic Phase I Inspections and providing general dam engineering consulting to the City since that time. Most of the dams are associated with the City Water Supply and managed by the Department of Public Works. Barrett Park Dam is managed by the City’s Recreation Department.
GZA performed a Phase II Assessment for the Rockwell Pond Dam that lead to the development of repairs and improvements to the dam that consisted of buttressing the primary spillway to meet stability requirements and adding a parapet wall to increase free board during the design flood which was based on an incremental flood analysis. GZA obtained environmental permits and the Chapter 253 Dam Safety permit required by DCR-ODS. Subsequently, GZA provided bid and construction phase services for the project.
Currently GZA is in the permitting phase of improvements to the Barrett Pond Dam to address identified deficiencies. During design development, Leominster suffered an unprecedented rainfall event of nearly ten inches in about six hours. This event resulted in overnight overtopping of two of the Cities Dams including Distributing Reservoir Dam and Barrett Park Dam. GZA immediately mobilized to the sites and provided emergency dam engineering consulting including providing immediate recommendations to drawdown impoundment levels and to stabilize severe erosion that occurred as a result of the overtopping. GZA assisted the city in securing contractors who mobilized and completed emergency actions in a period of a day and a half for distributing Reservoir Dam, and three days for Barrett Park Dam.