Rock rapids replace aging dams to let Minn. rivers flow

[hunter]

For more than a century, a gated dam in Pine River, Minn. held back the water that flowed out of Norway Lake into the Pine River and eventually to the Whitefish Chain of Lakes.

The Norway Brook dam was a centerpiece of the small north-central Minnesota city of about 900 residents, a summertime gathering spot for its annual summer festival and for kids itching to cool off.

But like many other dams that hold back water in Minnesota rivers, the gated structure, built in 1910, was aging and in need of repair.

--more--

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/07/05/rock-rapids-replace-aging-dams-to-let-minn-rivers-flow

This is how shallow dams can be removed while preserving lakes that have become important to the local human population.

There are some good photos at this link.

[2naSalit]

1. Finally...

A workable and widely accepted solution to the shallow dams that are so environmentally unsound.

[viva la]

2. I live near a navigable river with several old dams

And they're dangerous to swimmers. Several kids at a graduation swim party a couple years ago got caught in one and died.

[Finishline42]

3. And some dams are required to allow barges to operate

Here's one example, the Tennessee River.

Many of the raw materials that support manufacturing throughout the U.S. travel on the Tennessee River via barge. Over 50 million tons of goods move up and down the river every year.

Anything that’s transported in bulk quantities—especially the raw ingredients that go into many consumer products—makes a good candidate for shipping by barge. This includes coal, chemicals, grains, ores, minerals and aggregates such as sand, gravel and slag.

Water transportation is the only practical method for shipping extremely large and bulky pieces of machinery or equipment. Items as varied as giant cranes for highway bridge construction, steam generators for TVA power plants, automobile plant presses, military vehicles and even rocket boosters have been loaded onto barges for shipping via the Tennessee River.

https://www.tva.com/environment/managing-the-river/navigation-on-the-tennessee-river

edited to add

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