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Firm Seeks Fix for leaky Lovejoy Pond Dam

September 17, 2010 - WAYNE -- An engineering firm will visit town in the coming weeks to determine what needs to be done to plug a leaking North Wayne Dam that's had no substantial repair work done since 1984.

The town will pay Kleinschmidt $2,100 to inspect the structure, which controls the flow of water from Lovejoy Pond into Pickerel Pond and Pocasset Lake.

Town Manager Amy Bernard said residents who live near Lovejoy Pond reported low water levels in the pond last month, the result of little rain and a potentially faulty drain valve.

When town officials took a look at the dam, they also discovered rotting boards through which water was leaking. The town replaced 4 feet of those rotting boards, but more work needs to be done.

"Dams have to have maintenance, just like roads," Bernard said. "We're just trying to take the more proactive approach with this dam and see what we need to do minimally."

Bernard said an inspection will reveal the extent to which boards under water are rotting and leaking, and how severe the stone section of the dam is leaking. The inspection should also show how much repair work the drain valve requires.

Still, "nobody feels like the dam is going to let go," Bernard said, adding that Lovejoy Pond's water levels have started to return to normal.

While the dam historically powered the North Wayne Tool Co., which was the center of village life in North Wayne for much of the 19th century, it no longer generates energy. The dam site, however, is Wayne's only public swimming location, Bernard said.

The North Wayne Dam's last substantial inspection was a 1979 U.S. Army Corps of Engineering analysis, which showed the dam to be in "poor condition."

Kleinschmidt -- a national engineering outfit with offices in Pittsfield -- submitted the lowest of three bids for the dam inspection, and selectmen chose the firm's work proposal at a meeting Tuesday night.

Bernard said the inspection could cost up to $3,000 when the costs of engineers' travel time and time spent discussing the dam with selectmen are calculated.

by Matthew Stone, Kennebec Journal, September 17, 2010

Lakes: Lovejoy Pond
Regions: Belgrade


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