Weigold Dam Repair

The Weigold Road dam is a historic earth dam. Large trees and plants had grown around the dam. The roots of these trees had started to push rocks away from the spillway and the dam. The plants around the edge of the dam were overgrown and had blocked the view of the dam. The vegetation had grown so thick that the path that follows the dam was no longer accessible. There were sections of the dam that had been weakened due to erosion and neglect.

The goal of the project was to repair the existing damage that has occurred to the dam, to prevent further erosion of the dam and preserve the wetland.

We began clearing the dam. We cut down all of the small brush and trees. The chips were spread over the driveway to prevent further erosion. We also collected a lot of litter. Then we cut down the larger trees. All the stumps from the small trees were painted with Roundup to prevent them from growing back next year. The larger stumps were painted with stump sealer to keep them from dying.

Then we began to put some of the rocks back into place on the dam. We tried to stabilize the rocks and patch all of the holes in the wall. Since many rocks seemed to be missing, we gathered stones from the woods along the hiking trail. These rocks were put into place on the dam to level it out and fill in the gaps. The right side of the spillway had collapsed and many of the stones had washed away, leaving a large sinkhole.

We had to point the missing stones in place to reinforce the dam spillway. R&R Landscaping Services graciously donated about four yards of aggregate to fill in the sinkhole on the right side of the dam. The aggregate was used to level off the right side of the dam after the spillway repairs were completed.

Lastly, a bridge was built to cross the spillway. This would allow people to easily cross the spillway and reduce the chance of loosening stones from the wall.

The cost of the project ($166) was covered by handmade wooden children toy ducks sold at the Tolland farmer’s market and a donation from R&R Landscaping Services.