In Montpelier, city officials plan to remove the Pioneer Street Dam and restore a nearby floodplain. Together, the projects are predicted to have compounding positive effects that reduce flood risk in the city.
The Pioneer Street Dam — an old mill dam — is about 1.3 miles upstream from the capital city’s downtown along the Winooski River. Not only is the dam filled with cracks, but engineers consider it a flood hazard.
“It’s got about everything wrong with a dam you can imagine,” said Roy Schiff, an engineer who’s monitoring the dam.
Nearby sits