[FONT=Verdana]Construction workers chipped away at a century of history in downtown Dexter, MI as they began tearing out the dam on Mill Creek. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]A large construction machine was driven out into Mill Creek around 8 a.m. and its operator began slamming a large metal rod into the concrete at the top of the dam, which is under the Main Street bridge. As a small group of city officials and onlookers stood on the creek bank nearby, the machine punched out pieces of the structure, turning the dams once well-defined straight line of concrete and steel into a pock-marked, irregular surface. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]The water level in the pond created by the dam appeared to drop a bit as water flowed through the holes punched in the top of the dam. After a little more than an hour, construction workers ended the demolition for the day. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]The ET MacKenzie Co. of Ann Arbor will remove about 12 to 18 inches of the concrete barrier one day each week through mid-July with its large, bright yellow CAT excavator with a demolition hammer on the end. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]The dam, which has held back the Mill Creek pond for 98 years, was built in 1910 and reinforced with concrete and stone in 1932, said Aaron Berkholz, project engineer for the Washtenaw County Road Commission. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]"So far, it's going smoothly,'' he said of the first phase of the dam removal process. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]The removal of the 9-foot-high dam required months of preparation and multiple permits from the state Department of Environmental Quality and is part of the $3.3 million Main Street bridge replacement project. Removal of the dam itself is costing about $40,000, said Donna Dettling, Dexter Village manager. [/FONT]