What is being referred to as the “water-breaking” ceremony marking the start of the Grovers Mill Pond dredging project will be held on Monday, August 4, at 2 p.m. at the dock in Van Ness Park off Cranbury Road.##M:[more]##
The actual dredging will have already begun on Friday, August 1, but the ceremony will celebrate the removal of the sediment that has built up to a three-foot high layer at the bottom of the pond over the past 250 years, says Pat Ward, the township’s community development coordinator.
In preparation for the dredging, the tugboat, dredge, and barges were delivered to the site on July 22, causing a temporary road closure on Clarksville Road at the Grovers Mill Dam as the equipment was carried to the site by crane. Preparations have been underway for months, but the contractor could not begin work because of to wildlife restrictions.
November 1 to April 1 encompassed the turtle hibernation period, and December 15 to May 15 was the bald eagle restriction period, and then from May 1 to July 31, there were restrictions for fish spawning. The only thing the contractor, Select Transportation Inc. of Ohio, could do after April 1 was begin to put up the fencing and preparation of the contained area.
The Grovers Mill Pond project will undergo wet dredging, which leaves the water intact. “They’re not deepening the pond, and they’re not changing the contours of the pond,” said Ward, adding that the sediment will simply be removed using a flexible pipe that acts like a vacuum cleaner with a blade that will suck in all of the sediment and push it into the containment area in Community Park.
The dredging and water work is scheduled to be completed at the end of October. By the end of November, trailers and all work equipment should be removed, and fencing will be moved to the other side of the macadam path so that it only encompasses the dredged materials in the containment area. The material dredged from the pond will remain there for a year, while being monitored, to dry out.
