The machinery at Second Dam is holding for parts so Michels Trenchless Inc. can continue dredging the pond behind the power plant on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.
LOGAN – The Logan Ranger District closed Second Dam Day Use Area including all parking areas and the entire pond to all pedestrian, equestrian, bicycle, and any type of motorized vehicle traffic.
The closure was done for public safety while Logan City dredges sediment from the Second Dam.
Logan City has hired a company to dredge the pond behind the dam to remove sediment that has been building up for years and could affect the operation of the power plant there.
Work started around the middle of December 2023, and they expect to finish sometime in April of this year.
Marshall Alford, the Logan District Ranger, said the operation is a coordinated effort by several government agencies.
The U.S. Forest Service, Utah Department of Water Quality, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and Logan City are all coordinating their efforts to make sure the dredging is successful and environmentally sound.
“The U.S. Forest Service is the land holder, and we are monitoring the water down stream,” he said. “Logan City operates Second Dam (as a hydroelectric plant) using a special use permit. They coordinate the dredging with us, and we are monitoring the water.”
Michels Trenchless Inc. from Brownsville, Wisconsin brought the equipment and manpower to dredge that part of the Logan River. The company also does work on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and other places across the country, including a lot of work in New York and Virginia.
“The dredging operation seems to be working with the set parameters on water quality,” Alford said. “If what they are doing doesn’t meet the standards, they change what they are doing to maintain the viability of the water.”
There are two large track hoes and barges that can float on the water and two large barges that the sediment is loaded onto. The residue is taken by dump truck and trailer to a Nibley location where it is dumped.
“The company estimates they have several more weeks of work ahead of them,” Alford said. “They have had some equipment issues that has slowed them down some.”
When it is all said and done, Michels Trenchless Inc expects to extract approximately 38,000 yards of silt from the dam site. So far, they have taken 25,000 yards from the bottom of the pond.
Water at the dam should have 20 feet from the surface water to the river bottom at the dam and gradually slope to the bride to the east where they expect the depth to be a foot and a half.
The Wisconsin-based company is only digging up an average of about 500 yards a day due to the weather and equipment failures. Ideally, they like to get 1,000 yards a day.
Second Dam is located approximately 2.5 miles up the canyon from Logan on Highway 89.
When open, the area around Second Dam is a popular recreation site. It has six wooded picnic sites and is fully accessible with two parking areas, a restroom, and a boardwalk fishing pier. Fishing at the pier is handicapped accessible and there are many places to fish from the shore. Trout are stocked several times each year in parts of the river.