Brecksville dam slated for demolition this summer

by Kathleen Steele Gaivin

Plans are underway to begin demolition of the Canal Diversion Dam over the Cuyahoga River, commonly known as the Brecksville dam, to improve water quality and water flow and to boost the viability of aquatic life.

According to Elaine Marsh, president of advocacy group Friends of the Crooked River, the dam also poses a safety hazard to recreational users of the waterway. A new canal pump station to feed the Ohio and Erie Canal will take its place.

From the early 1800s to well into the mid-20th century, dams were the go-to solution for water diversion for agriculture and industry along the Cuyahoga River. The Canal Diversion Dam was constructed in 1953 to move water from the river into the Ohio and Erie Canal to help factories with processing, cooling and hydroelectric power. Though dams were once considered state-of-the art technology, dam removals are now the focus of clean water advocates.

The Clean Water Act of 1972 set up guidelines for regulating pollutant discharges into the nation’s waters, and to that end, the law did its job. Removing the harmful discharges did, in fact, improve aquatic life upstream of the various dams. However, water quality downstream remained poor. Therefore, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency now recognizes the need for obsolete dams that impair waterways to be removed.

FOCR is partnering with the Cuyahoga National Park, the Ohio EPA, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Cleveland Metroparks and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District to take care of the obsolete Brecksville dam. The advocacy group is more or less the fiduciary and facilitator of the project, Marsh said. FOCR was involved in the demolition of dams in Kent, Munroe Falls and two others in Cuyahoga Falls.

“We hire consultants. We hold the monies we get for the project from various sources,” she said of the all-volunteer group. “We’re working in consultation with experts and landowners.”

FOCR awarded a contract in May to Kokosing Industrial Inc. to remove the 8-foot-tall, 183-foot-long Brecksville dam. Marsh said the group is looking at establishing a demolition schedule, but she anticipates the dam being gone by the end of the summer once all permits, processes and procedures are ensured. She said the pump station will most likely be installed next summer.

The project will cost about $1.5 million, including studies and engineering work, dam demolition and construction of the pump station to feed the Ohio and Erie Canal.

Featured image photo caption: The Brecksville dam is slated for demolition this summer. Photo from ScripType Archives