Cuyahoga Falls River Restoration and Dam Removal

The project is part of an Ohio EPA initiative and WRRSP funded program to restore free flowing river conditions along the Cuyahoga River from Lake Rockwell to Lake Erie. The project involved the removal of two 100-year old dams while stabilizing the adjacent remnant powerhouse structures. The team was tasked with evaluating the change in hydraulic forces and designing a system to maintain structural stability of the buildings. The removal of the dam structures posed unknown challenges associated with exposed riverbed within the limits of eliminated dam pool.

Design concepts for structure and bank stabilization methods remained subject to modification as each area became exposed during the construction phase, thus exercising a true design-build team effort. Project tasks included hydraulic river modeling,remnant structure stability analysis, structure and bank stabilization design and riverbank restoration techniques.