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News Release for April 18, 2008
For More Information:
Charles Hebson, MaineDOT Environmental Office, 624-3100
Mark Latti, MaineDOT Office of Communications, 624-3030
MaineDOT plans to restore Sherman Marsh, stabilize bridge supports
This summer, The Maine Department of Transportation will proceed with plans to restore Sherman Marsh in Newcastle and stabilize the Route 1 Bridge that spans what is now the Marsh River.
Sherman Marsh was until recently better known as Sherman Lake. The Marsh River was originally impounded in the 1930’s when a causeway to carry Route 1 was built over the river. A new, elevated US Route 1 was constructed in the early 1960s over the original causeway dam. Sherman Lake remained that way until a large rain storm in October of 2005 caused the dam to fail, and reopened the marsh to the tides for the first time in over 70 years.
Since that time, the tides and river have continued to erode the banks of what once was the dam, exposing the bridge supports. This summer, MaineDOT plans to enlarge the outlet channel and stabilize the bridge supports.
“By improving the hydraulic connectivity between the marsh and the downstream Marsh River, we can restore the marsh,” said Charlie Hebson, Chief Hydrologist for MaineDOT, “The potential is there to restore as much as 217acres of marshland.”
MaineDOT will conduct the restoration project as a departmental mitigation banking initiative. Mitigation is a type of compensation used to offset the impacts of a project. Mitigation can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to a project. By establishing a “mitigation bank”, the department can use the restoration of Sherman Marsh to help mitigate other potential MaineDOT projects in the Midcoast area. Mitigation can be expensive. A recent mitigation project in southern Maine cost MaineDOT $157,000 per acre. Creating a mitigation bank now will save money on projects in the future.
Final plans for the stabilization and restoration are currently being finalized. Work on this project could begin early to mid-summer.
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