Afield: 2 dams are being removed on Spring Creek. What to know about the projects

The removal of two old low head dams on Spring Creek began in late July and continues into August. The project involves eliminating two dams that were infrastructure associated with Benner Spring and Bellefonte state fish hatcheries. The dams were constructed by and owned by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

Two sections of the 3.3-mile Spring Creek Canyon Trail and a parking lot were closed during the removal. A Fish and Boat Commission news release notified anglers that some turbidity would occur downstream during the project.

“Removing these obsolete dams has many benefits to the fish and aquatic organisms that call Spring Creek home,” said Tyler Neimond, who heads the Division of Habitat Management for the PFBC. “The dam removals restore fish and aquatic organism passage, allowing unobstructed movement to critical habitat within Spring Creek, and allow normal sediment and nutrient transport, which is a key function in healthy rivers and streams.”

Commission Fish Passage Biologist Dave Dippold added, “From an anglers’ perspective it might look like the obsolete dams were not blocking fish passage, and they probably weren’t inhibiting adult-sized trout. However, the younger trout and bottom-dwelling fish would have difficulty navigating the swift currents created when the water passed through the narrow gaps in the concrete.”

The first dam to be removed was located midway between Fisherman’s Paradise and Benner Spring Hatchery. Work began on July 22, and was expected to finish on Aug. 2. The dam’s original purpose was to divert water from Spring Creek into a series of ponds visible from the Spring Creek Canyon Trail. The ponds, built in the 1930s, and now dry for decades, were once used by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s Bellefonte Hatchery to raise fish.

The concrete dam and intake structures were removed by Lobar Construction Management of Dillsburg, York County. Beran Environmental Services, of Butler County, did the permitting and engineering for the project. All of the old, reinforced concrete was buried on site.

“We want to make it look like this dam was never here,” owner Bob Beran stated. “These dams can be dangerous, and they screw up the ecology of the stream.”

After demolition, Lobar constructed sawtooth deflectors using Beran’s design. Limestone rock was added in a triangular pattern on both sides of Spring Creek to narrow the channel and improve trout habitat. That section of Spring Creek Canyon Trail was repaired and rerouted after the dam was demolished.

Having been involved with the removal of over 30 dams in Pennsylvania, Beran Environmental Services is very experienced in the purpose and process of dam removal. In 2023, the company removed Oakland Dam on the North Branch of the Susquehanna River in Susquehanna County. This 755-foot long, 16-foot-high dam is the largest one yet to be removed in Pennsylvania.

The second Spring Creek dam set for removal was once used to divert water from Spring Creek into Benner Spring Fish Hatchery. That hatchery was constructed in 1952 on land leased from Rockview State Correctional Institution. Water for the hatchery originally came from Spring Creek and Benner Spring. More recently, additional water comes from two production wells, which eliminated the need for water to be drawn from the stream.

This dam is located along Rock Road just downstream from the Fish and Boat Commission’s Rock Road Access and an old iron bridge. During high water events, a channel has been eroded around the road side of the dam, increasing siltation in the stream.

Work on this dam demolition is set to begin Aug. 5, and involves removing the low head dam, as well as the concrete intake structures on the hatchery side. The eroded channel will be repaired. All concrete will be removed or buried and the finishing touches will again be sawtooth deflectors constructed on both sides of Spring Creek.

The parking lot at the Rock Road Access will be used as a staging area and closed to the public during construction. Public access to Spring Creek Canyon Trail at this point will also be closed, but all other portions of the trail will be open. The work is expected to be wrapped up by Aug. 16.

According to Mike Parker, communications director with the Commission, the total cost of the project, including design, historical research and construction is $459,930. The dam removal project is totally funded by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.