A state construction project at the Bremen-Bristol town line will remove a long-standing obstacle to the alewife run up Muscongus Brook and into Webber Pond.
The Maine Department of Transportation will replace a pair of culverts under Route 32 with a small concrete bridge this summer. The state will close Route 32 at the Bremen-Bristol town line for about 15 days while the work takes place.
The work will take place after July 15 due to regulations that limit “in-stream” work to certain times of the year. The work could start almost immediately thereafter, weather-permitting.
The existing culverts carry Muscongus Brook under Route 32 at the town line.
A small fish ladder enables alewives to swim into one of the culverts and reach their spawning grounds in Webber Pond in Bremen. The bridge will return the stream bed to its original path and eliminate the need for the fish ladder.
Hagar Enterprises Inc. of Damariscotta will build the bridge for a bid of $396,000, according to DOT Project Manager Sean Smith. The total project cost is $410,000, which includes engineering and permits.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, American Rivers and other natural resource agencies are partners in the project and will contribute funds, although the DOT will pay the majority of the project cost.
David Wilkins lives on Webber Pond and began work on the alewife run in 2002.
Years ago, the fish were abundant and local lobstermen would harvest them for bait. By 2002, however, there were no alewives.
Wilkins began to investigate and experiment with obstacles in the brook.
He started by bringing a backhoe in to move stones at the old Webber Mill, where stones often fall into the stream and block the alewives’ path into the pond. He also asked the Maine Department of Marine Resources for help.
The Department of Marine Resources stocked the pond in 2003 and, in 2007, the fish returned to Muscongus Brook en route to the pond to spawn.
The culvert at the town line, which dates to about 1980, blocked their passage. It immediately became clear to Wilkins the culvert had been the demise of the run.
Wilkins carried many of the fish across the road the first year. The next year, 2008, he built and installed a small fish ladder with limited success.
In 2009, he built a bigger ladder. More fish began to pass through the culvert, but the ladder was destroyed in a flood.
Wilkins persevered, building yet another ladder, which he installs every year from mid-May to July 1. “The brook has good numbers of alewives in it today,” Wilkins said, but the temporary structure is far from perfect.
The culvert narrows the path of the stream and, as a result, speeds the flow of water. The fish, after entering the culvert, still have a long climb against the unnaturally fast flow of water.
The bridge will remove this obstacle and, Wilkins believes, greatly increase the numbers of fish who complete the journey to Webber Pond.
There will be a series of pools under the bridge similar to the pools at the alewife run in Damariscotta Mills, he said.
Wilkins said the plans are ideal for restoring the stream bed and improving fish passage.
He estimates 2000 to 5000 alewives will return to Webber Pond this year. Without the culvert and other barriers to reckon with, he thinks this number can grow to 100,000.
He hopes, in the future, to work with the state to replace what he calls the north culvert, where Muscongus Brook crosses Route 32 about a half-mile north of the town line.
The fish can pass through the north culvert, but the condition of the culvert poses a public safety issue, Wilkins said. The large stones at the old Webber Mill also continue to be a problem.