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The Removal of the Main Street Dam

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Started 8 months ago by News
Latest reply from Walker

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News
Columbus Underground
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The removal of the Main Street Dam is the first step in the "Greenway Corridor" proposal that will return the riverfront Downtown to a cleaner, navigable natural river:

http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/downtown-2010-plan-idea-12-river-greenway

Funds for studying the removal of the dam were approved last night by City Council:

City OKs $50,000 to study removing Main Street dam
By Doug Caruso
The Columbus Dispatch
Monday September 19, 2011

The Columbus City Council approved $50,000 tonight to study removing a low-head dam in the Scioto River, a move touted as a way to improve the river Downtown.

The dam study, to be undertaken with the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation, will examine whether it’s feasible to remove the Main Street dam. The city’s latest Downtown plan says that removing the dam would make the Scioto’s flow more natural there, creating new parkland in the city’s center.

READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/09/19/city-oks-study-to-remove-main-street-dam.html

Posted 8 months ago #
News
Columbus Underground
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Scioto dreams
Tuesday September 27, 2011 5:40 AM

Later this fall, Downtown visionaries should have a better idea whether Columbus’ chocolate-brown, sometimes-smelly big river can be transformed into something closer to a natural watercourse: a narrower, cleaner stream, flanked by acres of parkland in the heart of the city.

The key to what undoubtedly would be a welcome change would be removing the low-head dam on the Scioto River at Main Street. The question is whether the dam can be removed, and natural riverbanks restored, for a price the community can afford.

READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2011/09/27/scioto-dreams.html

Posted 8 months ago #
lazyfish

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What about the freaking 5th. ave damn!!! Lets get rid of it asap. Why study another more expensive damn removal, when the studies have been done for 5th ave. all that is lacking is Utilities Dept.demonstrating some interest and funding.

Posted 8 months ago #
alexs
Limestone bluffs of the Scioto
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The brown stain is from sediment further upstream, mainly farm fields and construction sites. There is an ODNR program addressing this:

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/soilandwater/programs/crep/sciotocrep/default/tabid/8870/Default.aspx

Posted 8 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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lazyfish said:
What about the freaking 5th. ave damn!!! Lets get rid of it asap. Why study another more expensive damn removal, when the studies have been done for 5th ave. all that is lacking is Utilities Dept.demonstrating some interest and funding.

The plan is to eventually remove all of them. Does the order of removal really matter that much?

Posted 8 months ago #
lazyfish

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yes! the 5th ave damn has no sewer line in it...it will be cheaper and easier to remove. It has also been on the drawing board since the days of Deb Price, the real issue is that Utilities is stalling. They would rather dole out small bundles of cash to study the issues than actually start removing dams.

Posted 8 months ago #
surber17

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Would this make the water clean enough to allow small boats on it?

Posted 8 months ago #
surber17

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btw, i love the idea of a pedestrian only, landscaped bridge that connects COSI

Posted 8 months ago #
groundrules

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surber17 said:
Would this make the water clean enough to allow small boats on it?

you can use small boats on it now. I imagine taking out the dam will actually decrease it's usefulness for boating, unless you're talking canoes and kayaks.

Posted 8 months ago #
groundrules

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lazyfish said:
What about the freaking 5th. ave damn!!! Lets get rid of it asap. Why study another more expensive damn removal, when the studies have been done for 5th ave. all that is lacking is Utilities Dept.demonstrating some interest and funding.

what would Hayduke do?

Posted 8 months ago #
Mercurius
First Avenue
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groundrules said:
what would Hayduke do?

Thermite - Don't meet many Abbey fans here in Cbus. T

Posted 8 months ago #
rus

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Mercurius said:
Thermite - Don't meet many Abbey fans here in Cbus. T

Dunno... thermite might not be the best choice for removing a dam.

Posted 8 months ago #
futureman
Grandview Heights
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Dam could give way to parkland
Project would speed up river’s flow, cost $35 million
By Doug Caruso
The Columbus Dispatch Thursday March 29, 2012 1:20 PM

It would cost about $35 million to remove the Main Street dam and remake the Scioto River through Downtown into a fertile crescent of parkland.

That’s the verdict of a $100,000 study city leaders and the Columbus Downtown Development Corp. commissioned last fall. The Dispatch obtained a copy of the 78-page report yesterday under the state’s open-records law.

READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/03/29/dam-could-give-way-to-parkland.html

Posted 1 month ago #
futureman
Grandview Heights
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Mayor To Announce Major Change On Scioto River
By: Mike Bowersock | NBC4
Published: April 03, 2012

Mayor Mike Coleman is expected to announce a plan this afternoon to bring more land to downtown Columbus by narrowing the Scioto River.Coleman is proposing a 35-million dollar project to take out the main street dam.

Here's what that does: it lowers the Scioto River’s water depth by about seven feet and that exposes about 33 acres of land.

That is land that the city could build on.We would have a narrower river and more bank or shore.The actual removal of the dam would cost 325-thousand dollars, but the rest of the money would be spent on other improvements.The mayor's office says much of the money would come from private sources.Originally the dam was put in back in 1929 to prevent flooding. That isn't needed anymore according to the city.

READ MORE: http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2012/apr/03/mayor-announce-major-change-scioto-river-ar-987550/

Posted 1 month ago #
alexs
Limestone bluffs of the Scioto
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There was another dam on that site in the 1820s, to "slack the river" for the Columbus Canal. The 1913 flood took it out.

Posted 1 month ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Scioto River Greenway Plan Moving Forward
By: Walker

Two years ago, this project was a mere idea. Today, local leaders including Worley as well as Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman, Columbus City Council President Andrew J. Ginther, Franklin County Commissioners President Paula Brooks, Ohio EPA Director Scott Nally, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director James Zehringer and several other community leaders issued a joint announcement about the feasibility, cost and timeline of the project as determined by a recently completed engineering study.

READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/scioto-river-greenway-plan-moving-forward

Posted 1 month ago #
Pablo
Crestview Addition
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CDDC is looking for consultants for the entire $35.5 million project:

http://www.mypublicnotices.com/dispatch/PublicNotice.asp?Page=PublicNotice&AdId=2742239

Posted 1 month ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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This is my own personal "before" picture. The river seems to look so much wider now that this plan has been proposed...

Posted 3 weeks ago #