Scotts Mills Dam work back underway
Construction work on the Scotts Mills Dam at Lock 19 in Peterborough restarted earlier this month.
Work on the project, which is being led by SNC-Lavalin, was suspended in April to account for seasonal heavier flows through the Otonabee River and to accommodate in-water work restrictions mandated by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The shutdown was planned.
At the time the work was suspended, the construction team had completed work on the upstream and downstream cofferdams. Work is now scheduled to proceed on the first two sluices and the secant retaining wall on the eastern shoreline. Pile driving will resume in June.
The dam at Lock 19 is nearing the end of its useful life. In February 2019, Parks Canada and Public Service and Procurement Canada announced a project to replace the dam with a new structure that not only preserves the historic look of the site, but also has a life expectancy of more than 80 years. The project is part of an investment of $125 million in Parks Canada facilities throughout Peterborough.
Parks Canada says the new dam will optimize hydraulic capacity, increase the safety of water management operations, and will allow for better access for maintenance activities.
Construction work on the dam is being performed in stages—in part due to its complexity. Given the project’s location in a predominantly urban area, Parks Canada bought four adjacent properties along the shoreline to use for construction staging, material storage and site access. Parks Canada also specified that the contractors must also allow the government agency an ability to manage water through the dam during construction to mitigate the risk of flooding upstream and downstream of the dam, and within the City of Peterborough.
The original Scotts Mills lock and dam was built in 1844. The replacement project is targeted for completion in spring 2022.