Resounding BOOM kicks of Marmot Dam demolition

Posted on July 24, 2007 | Filed Under Dam Removal, Events, Global Warming, Northwest, River Renewal 

Amy Kober
Northwest Outreach & Communications Director

Marmot Dam removal

Restoration of Oregon’s Sandy River has begun!

I just got back from the Marmot Dam removal event. There was amazing turnout, with lots of people there from the local community, including Linda Malone, the Mayor of Sandy, to celebrate the beginning of a new era for the Sandy River.

After some brief remarks from PGE’s CEO Peggy Fowler, she lead the audience in a countdown (10…9…8…) and then she pushed the plunger.

There was a split-second of silence and then a huge boom, followed by great plumes of dust. The crowd erupted in cheers and applause and everyone rushed forward to get a better view of the now-weakened dam.

See our photos in Flickr

Here’s some good video from KGW.com.

Also, see PGE’s new web site www.MarmotDam.com for photos and video.

And, if you haven’t watched it yet, check out the rough cut of our short dam removal film.

Immediately following the boom, four excavators and dump trucks rumbled over to start chipping and scooping away the rubble of concrete chunks and re-bar tangles.

We were able to get some pieces of the dam’s concrete to take back to the office — it sure was something to hold a piece of Marmot Dam in my hand!

Demolition of the dam will continue for the next month or so. The earthen coffer dam upstream of Marmot Dam will stay in place until the autumn rains wash it away.

When do you think the coffer dam will ultimately wash away and the Sandy will be free-flowing? Place your bets!

It’s not every day you get to watch a dam being removed. Marmot Dam has stood for 95 years and it served a valuable purpose. But we’re entering a new era, one where there is tremendous value in letting the Sandy River run free.

Plus, PGE is replacing Marmot Dam’s power with wind power– this is an example of how we can fight global warming, embrace clean energy, and have healthy rivers.

So today is a day for celebration. There were lots of champagne corks popping as the concrete crumbled!

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Comments

8 Responses to “Resounding BOOM kicks of Marmot Dam demolition”

  1. chelsea on July 25th, 2007 11:29 am

    This is really neat. My uncle used to run a camp along the Sandy River - Camp Collins, and I went there when I was younger. I still remember the wet, green forest and the Sandy River in the valley below. I also learned to sing “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” in Japanese at Camp Collins! It’s so neat to know that the river I used to visit at camp will now be free-flowing for the first time in 95 years! I told my uncle, and he said he had visited the dam once with my aunt, and wondered why it was there. Now it’s not! “Keep up the good work,” he said. Indeed, great work guys!

  2. amy on July 25th, 2007 11:33 am

    Chelsea, that’s really cool! I’ve heard a lot about Camp Collins — I think it has played a big role in a lot of lives! Kurt Guenther, who shot our short film on the Sandy River, also went to Camp Collins as a child. Sounds like a very special place.

  3. Marmot Dam: going, going, gone : American Rivers Blog on August 10th, 2007 2:06 pm

    [...] began with a boom on July 24; watch the rough cut of our short film about the river restoration [...]

  4. Save the date: Sept 20 in Portland : American Rivers Blog on August 30th, 2007 3:06 pm

    [...] Here’s the poster advertising our fun and free event at the Lucky Lab in Portland on September 20. It’s for the Portland premiere of our short film about the restoration of the Sandy River! [...]

  5. Sandy River film — watch it now! : American Rivers Blog on September 21st, 2007 6:38 pm

    [...] film features local citizens talking about the removal of Marmot Dam, and why restoring the Sandy is important.  It also captures the excitement of this time in the [...]

  6. Marmot Dam removal update - Sandy River almost free-flowing! : American Rivers Blog on October 16th, 2007 6:14 pm

    [...] was almost three months ago that a big blast marked the beginning of the end for Marmot Dam on Oregon’s Sandy [...]

  7. New pictures of the free-flowing Sandy River : American Rivers Blog on November 14th, 2007 5:39 pm

    [...] comparison, check out pics of the July 24 demolition blast, and pics of the deconstruction [...]

  8. Great USGS video of Marmot Dam removal : American Rivers Blog on February 20th, 2008 4:04 pm

    [...] Marmot Dam removal begins (July 2007) [...]

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