CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – Brookfield Renewable Project Manager Justin Rider commended his crew yesterday for their work on the Piney Dam Spillway Project.
(Photos courtesy Mike Farren.)
The company officially announced Thursday that the project was complete — nearly seven months ahead of schedule.
Rider said, “We would like to thank the public for their patience and understanding as we undertook this large-scale project. I hope it was apparent that we did everything in our power to complete the project in a safe and timely manner.”
The project began in the Spring of 2015, with Brookfield initially seeking to do repair work on the spillway tainter gates. However, after the first gate was rehabilitated, it was determined that the nearly 100-year-old gates would ultimately need to be replaced, leading to a project of significantly larger magnitude and scope than originally anticipated.
With this larger undertaking, the original anticipated completion date was scheduled for June of 2018. With the project officially completed at the end of November, Brookfield was able to finish the project a full seven months ahead of schedule.
While the river was drawn down for this gate replacement work, Brookfield took steps to ensure that the public still had access to utilize the river.
These steps included installing a portable access ramp at Toby Launch to allow boat access that would not have been possible at that launch otherwise With water levels down, Brookfield dredged at Toby Boat Launch, to alleviate issues that have arisen with boaters with regards to boats hitting the bottom of the boat launch.
Additionally, the company continued to allow docks to be placed, waiving the usual fees for permit holders. Water levels on the river have been re-filled to full winter pool levels, and levels will be restored to normal recreation limits this coming recreation season.
“I’d also like to commend our team here at Piney for their commitment to quality, and dedication to get the project completed several months ahead of schedule, which was no small task,” said Rider