Bids for Dawt Mill Dam removal requested

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     The Dawt Missouri Preservation Society, a not-for-profit group established by Dawt Mill owner Dr. Ed Henegar, will request bids for the Dawt Dam removal project. According to the Ozark County Times, an ad is currently running until Wednesday. The project is being managed by RKL Construction Company of West Plains located at 627 Lincoln Ave. To get information on making a bid go between 8:00 in the morning until 5:00. Their phone number is (417)256-7730.
     The request for bids comes about eight weeks after Congressman Jason Smith announced the Delta Regional Authority had agreed to provide $86,625 in grants to help with demolition of the dam located on the North Fork of the White River.
     The dam, built in 1892, was constructed to direct water to a gristmill operated at the site where mills are believed to have operated since the mid-1800s. Parts of the dam to be demolished were built with sycamore timber and rocks.
     Through the decades, damage to the dam, caused by flooding, has been repaired. A flood in 2013 caused a breach near the center of the dam creating a powerful current. Staffers at Dawt Mill, a thriving resort built in 1901, warn canoers and others floating on the river, to avoid the area. This past summer a Springfield girl drowned when she became caught underwater in rebar extending from the breach.
     Demolition of the dam is being done in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife department in an effort to provide protection for the Ozark helbender, an endangered species of salamander living in the river.
     Dr. Henegar applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a permit to remove 290 feet of the 425-foot-long structure. The Corps approved the permit on September first, 2016. Although no date has been announced for the beginning of demolition, it is anticipated completion will be done during the late fall and winter months when water levels are lowest.
     

   

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