News  Holmes Dam Removal Begins (Plymouth)

The Town Brook Restoration Project is one of the earliest and most comprehensive river restoration projects in Massachusetts. This 12-phase effort began with the removal of the Billington Street Dam in 2001. Each phase has addressed a different impairment to the Brook including stormwater treatment, bank stabilization, and barrier removal. The removal of the Off-Billington and Plymco Dams in 2014 and 2015 were some of the most complex dam removals ever completed in the Commonwealth.  With the removal of Holmes Dam, now underway, the restoration of Town Brook is nearly complete.

This summer, the Town entered into a contract with ET&L Corporation to implement the next phase of the Town Brook Restoration – removal of the Holmes Dam and replacement of the nearby Newfield Street bridge. Engineers from Milone & MacBroom, Inc. will oversee the work along with the Plymouth Natural Resources Department. The implementation of this $6 million project improves public safety by removing a dam listed as “High Hazard” by the MA Office of Dam Safety. It also provides numerous ecological and public benefits, including:

• Additional floodplain storage along the Brook.
• Replacement of the Newfield Street bridge, which will be able to accommodate all forms of vehicle traffic.
• Access to 269 acres of high quality spawning habitat for river herring, as well improved access and passability along Town Brook.
• Removal and disposal of contaminated river sediments.
• A new basketball court and skate park.
• Other site amenities to improve the Pilgrim Walking Trail.

Additionally this project will create or maintain approximately 72 full-time-equivalent jobs and provide a 75% return on investment from associated economic activity. Completion of the Holmes Dam removal and Newfield Street bridge replacement is expected in summer of 2019.

All the work completed under the Town Brook Restoration project has made the neighborhood more resilient by removing these deteriorated dams and contributed to Town Brook being one of the strongest runs of herring and other diadromous fish in this part of Massachusetts. The annual herring runs are usually around 200,000 fish. The entire Town Brook Restoration Project will be celebrated as part of a range of public activities commemorating Plymouth’s 400^th Anniversary in 2020.