CLEARFIELD – Permits are under review for repairs to the Raftsman’s Memorial Dam in Clearfield Borough.
At Thursday’s work session, Borough Operations Manager Leslie Stott said permits for the repairs have been submitted to the Bureau of Waterways. She said she is hopeful the permits will be approved soon. Stott said the water table has risen, which will make working on the dam difficult.
Stott also said the borough street crew was able to get good prices for the lumber needed for the repairs.
According to previously published GANT News articles, a portion of the R. Dudley Tonkin Memorial Timber Dam, also known as the Raftsman’s Memorial Dam, has broken away and is on the concrete footer of the dam. A portion of the dam floated off and hung up further out in the river. While it may have occurred due to “wear and tear” on the dam, the borough engineers are not for sure what caused it to break away.
The borough was notified of problems with the dam on Sept. 11. The borough crew will perform a temporary repair, which will hopefully give Clearfield and the surrounding areas time to conduct a capital campaign to raise enough money to fully repair the dam.
Stott then said she was able to contact representatives from CareerLink, who will be sending a work crew to assist the street crew with leaf pick-up and other projects, while work takes place on the dam.
Also at the meeting, Code Enforcement Officer Larry Mack cautioned residents against using rock salt on the new sidewalks during cold weather. Mack said the rock salt will destroy the concrete. He asked the residents use calcium chloride to remove snow and ice from the new sidewalks.