National Program For Inspection Of Non Federal Dams Stevens Paper Company Lower Dam Ma 00074 Connecticut River Basin Westfield Massachusetts Phase I Inspection Report

This dam generally consists of a 190 foot masonry spillway, an earthfill embankment and 2 outlet pipes. The dam was designed in 1955 by Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation to replace an earlier dam, which was damaged by the flood of that year. Construction which utilized portions of the original structure was completed in 1957. The visual inspection showed the dam to be in good condition. However, water passing over the spillway limited the inspection of the spillway. The spillway is capable of passing 96% of the test flood outflow. The top of the embankment, elevation 175, would be overtopped by about 1 foot. However, failure under this condition would only cause insignificant damage as the downstream flooding would have already occurred. The dam is generally in good condition. However, it is recommended that the owner repair the drawdown outlet, and operate it at least once yearly to insure continued adequacy. After this outlet is repaired, or during a period of low flow, the owner should engage a qualified engineer to inspect the spillway without water flowing over it. Also the erosion of a retaining wall downstream of the spillway on the right abutment side should be repaired.

West Parish Filter No. 3 Dam is an earthen embankment structure 37.5 feet high and 800 feet long. A side-channel spillway is located at the right abutment. It has a concrete overflow section which is 23.4 feet long. Outlet piping passes beneath the embankment and connects directly to the water treatment plant which serves the City of Springfield, Mass. The dam is situated on a very small (0.07 sq. mi) drainage area, and serves as offstream storage and as a sedimentation basin for water which is piped from other dams. Based on the visual inspection, the dam is judged to be in fair condition. The following deficiencies were observed at the dam: a soft, wet area near the downstream toe; a row of evergreen trees along the downstream toe with some roots penetrating the embankment; rodent holes on the downstream slope; wheel tracks on the crest of the dam; misaligned riprap and loose rock and trees overhanging the spillway; low areas on the top of the dam; and no means of controlling flow at the upstream end of the outlet conduit. The spillway capacity is about 335 percent of the routed test flood outflow of 142 cfs. During the test flood, the freeboard would be 1.9 feet.

The Ware Industries Man (Upper) Dam consists of a main spillway 115 ft. long and approximately 34 ft. high, a spillway extension 50 ft. long and 4 ft. high, a concrete emergency spillway, a gate house with control works to a canal, and a 115 ft. long overflow weir from the canal. Based on a visual examination of the structure, the project is in good to fair condition. There was no evidence of structural failure or other conditions which would warrant urgent remedial action. The PMF outflow of 109,200 cfs would overtop the dam by 11.25 ft. With the water level at the top of dam, the spillway system can pass 7980 cfs which is 7.3 percent of the test flood.

The dam is generally comprised of a 401-foot long, 10 to 28 foot high main spillway, a head gate building, an overflow canal spillway and a canal leading to two 8 foot diameter penstocks used in electrical power generation. There are two inoperable gates located in the main dam. The dam is normally operated with two feet of flashboards above the spillway crest. The visual inspection did not disclose any findings that indicate an immediate unsafe condition. The 1 /2 PMF test flood used will produce an inflow/outflow of 70,830 cfs. The dam is a run-of-the-river type and the spillway crest would be overtopped by about 14 feet. The spillway has a capacity of 29,500 cfs (42 percent of 1/2 PMF outlfow) at elevation 166.6, top of non-overflow section. The non-overflow section is overtopped by about six feet. This flow would not overtop the upstream training walls which are at elevation 174.0. The overall condition of the dam is considered fair due to the lack of adequate draw down capacity. Remedial measures consist of removing vegetation from the downstream face of the dam, further observation of seepage at the right abutment, repair the wooden crest cover, and develop a formal warning system to warn downstream areas in case of an emergency.

Westfield Reservoir Dam is an earthen embankment structure about 350 feet long and 40 feet high. It has an uncontrolled overflow spillway located on the left (east) abutment and a 24-inch diameter cast-iron pipe outlet conduit which passes beneath the dam and which is valve controlled at the outlet end. Based on the visual inspection, the dam is judged to be in air condition. The following deficiencies were observed at the dam: minor but widespread slumping on the downstream slope; an animal burrow on the downstream slope; large trees near both abutments; a soft, wet area along the right bank of the downstream channel; a small sinkhole on the right side of the spillway discharge channel; lack of vegetation on the crest of the dam; inoperable valves on the downstream end of the outlet conduit; and no valve or other means of regulating or shutting off flow at the intake end of the outlet conduit. With the stoplog in place, the spillway capacity of Westfield Reservoir Dam is 707 cfs, which is about 15 percent of the routed test flood outflow of 4670 cfs. With the stoplog removed, the spillway capacity is about 994 cfs, which is about 21 percent of the routed test flood outflow. The test flood would cause the dam to be overtopped by about 3.5 feet.

Lower Glen (Greenfield) Reservoir Dam is a 46-foot high stone masonry dam, spanning the lower portion of a 300-foot deep V-shaped valley. The dam has a crest approximately 95 feet long, a vertical downstream face, a service spillway and an auxiliary spillway. The upstream face of the dam is submerged, and since no construction data are available, the configuration of the upstream side of the dam is unknown. The dam was constructed around 1904 to provide a water supply reservoir for the Town of Greenfield. The reservoir has not been used for water supply purposes for more than 30 years; therefore, the dam now serves no useful purpose. The dam appears to be in poor overall condition. Several joints have opened due to structural movement of the dam as evidenced by a bulge on the downstream face of the dam located just to the east of the center dam pier at mid-height. A great deal of seepage was observed at the location of the bulge and toward the east side groin area. The test flood peak inflow to Lower Glen (Greenfield) Reservoir was computed to be 3,760 cfs. The test flood peak overflow is also 3,760 cfs, with a discharge 4.8 feet over the top of the dam. The service and auxiliary spillways have a combined discharge capacity of 740 cfs, or 20 percent of the routed test flood outflow, just prior to overtopping of the dam.

The dam appears to be in good condition, The 'V' spillway is 90 ft. long with effective abutments of about 10 ft. on either end. The dam is about 15 ft. high at the abutments. Although the dam is in the small size category the hazard potential is extremely high and thus the situation was analyzed using the full probable maximum flood. A failure of the dam would overflow the left bank immediately below the dam, flood nearby buildings and streets.

The dam is a 22 foot high, 370 foot long earth embankment dam with an ungated 35 foot long spillway weir and a manually operated 24 inch main drain. The visual inspection indicated the dam to be in generally fair condition. The dam has a size classification of intermediate and a hazard potential classification of high. The Owner should institute remedial measures which include: maintenance of brush growth on the slopes, repair of eroded concrete, etc.

Chicopee Reservoir Dam is a 545-foot long, 47-foot high earth embankment dam constructed circa 1926. The spillway is a 44-foot long ogee crest which si located at the right abutment of the dam and has a crest elevation (El) 168.0. The outlet conduits are a 24-inch cast-iron former water supply line and a 30-inch cast-iron blowoff. The following deficiencies were observed at the site: high degree of erosion of the principal spillway chute structure and outlet training walls; erosion gullies on the right abutment above the dam crest; brush growth on the downstream slope of the embankment; and seepage from the left abutment downstream of the dam. Generally, the dam is in fiar condition. The adopted spillway Test Flood is equal to the Probable Maximum Flood which yields a peak test flood inflow of 7565 cfs. Hydraulic analyses indicate that the spillway, without flashboards, with the water surface at the top of the dam can discharge 3,950 cfs which is less than the total routed test flood outflow of 6,450 cfs. Thus, the spillway can discharge 60% of the routed test flood outflow.

Stevens Paper Co. (Upper) Dam consists of a stone masonry spillway 150 feet long and a maximum height of 18 feet near the right abutment. The average height of the spillway is approximately 15 feet. The abutment walls and embankments rise 8 feet above the spillway crest on both banks. Crane Pond is formed by the Lower Stevens Co. Dam and would experience a surge as a result of a failure of the Upper Stevens Dam. However, assuming no reduction in the failure outflow in the 1.3 mile reach, a 5 foot freeboard would remain at the lower dam. Downstream of the Lower Stevens Dam is an extensive, under-developed flood plain which would attenuate any surge which might pass through Crane Pond. As there is no apparent increase in hazard above that which would exist in prior to failure, the hazard potential of the Upper Stevens Dam is considered low. Based on this finding, the Phase I assessment of the condition of the dam has not been performed.