Dam Removals: Woodlands Lake Dam, Ardsley NY

Dam Removals: Woodlands Lake Dam, Ardsley NY

 

Dam Removals:

Woodlands Lake Dam, Ardsley NY

 

 

Across the country, dam removal projects are leading the way in river restoration. In Irvington, New York, removal of the Woodlands Lake Dam is freeing a section of the Saw Mill River.

In my home county of Westchester, New York, the biggest dam removal project is happening in Ardley, where the Woodlands Lake dam is being demolished in V. E. Macy Park.

In New York, rivers and streams are plugged with thousands of impoundments, big and small. There are more than 7000 dams, and probably many more that haven’t crossed regulators’ radar.

The Woodlands Lake Dam has (or, should I say, had) this in common with so many legacy dams: it articicailly warmed the water that backs up in the impoundment, baking in the summer sun.

A silty, muddy lakebed in summer, where the sediment has been deposited in front of the dam. Westchester County, Woodlands Lake Dam

Woodlands Lake, before dam removal: a silty, muddy, dry and dewatered lakebed in summer. Dams artificially warm the water they impound, leading to the loss of biodiversity up and down the stream.

 

The stone masonry and concrete dam was built in 1840, and the resulting impoundment has served the county variously as a park, swimming pool, circus location and scenic backdrop for a restaurant (as well as a cameo in the Netflix film, The Irishman).

Scene near the Woodlands Lake Dam, from The Irishman

All fancied up for Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro in the Martin Scorsese’s 2019 film, The Irishman: The buildings at the shore of Woodlands Lake.

But the lake created by the dam was only six feet deep at its deepest, and as temperatures in Westchester rise with climate change, the amount of water evaporating off its surface also increased. Removing the dam and storing water in underground aquifers makes water supplies more resilient in an increasingly warmer world.

As a practical matter, the dam was deemed old, obsolete and expensive to maintain.

Once the dam removal process is complete, a pre-engineered bridge will be placed over the river. Pedestrians and cyclists on the Empire State Trail will then have access to V.E. Macy park.

These photos were taken after two days of rain pounded the area, but you can see the  Saw Mill River channel taking shape in the former lake bed.

Aerial view of the demolition site of a dam on the Saw Mill River in Westchester County, NY

Aerial view of the demolition site of a dam on the Saw Mill River in Westchester County, NY

 

Below, you can see where riffle structures have been built to slow down the rush of water and reduce erosion, all while providing hiding and nesting places for aquatic animals — a far cry from the sluggish, sediment-laden pond of the past.

 

Riffle control structures in stone installed in the Saw Mill River at the former Woodlands Lake site in Ardsley, New York.

Riffle control structures installed in the Saw Mill River stream channel, where Woodlands Lake once lay. The dam removal project will result in a liveable environment for aquatic animals and flora, and a naturally cooler one.

 

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Dam removal projects are a favorite, and a specialty. We offer the quickest turnaround on photo and video submissions, contract paperwork and insurance documents. We’d love to work on your next dam removal contract.  -Suzanne

 

  • CERTIFIED: SBA-certified WOSB, New York State- and City-certified WBE, and Port Authority certified DBE
  • REGISTERED: SAM & ORCA. Experienced in Federal Government contracting and subcontracting.
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145 NEPERAN ROAD, TARRYTOWN, NY 10591

 

 

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Bird Banding Public Session, Albany Pine Bush

Bird Banding Public Session, Albany Pine Bush

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Albany Pine Bush:

Public Bird Banding

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before the sun rises, the bird banding tent is already set up at Albany Pine Bush Preserve. Ornithologists will work all day in the late summer heat as birds begin their fall migration.

This assignment, for the Hudson River Valley Greenway, brought me in closer contact with these little guys. But it’s also always interesting to see scientists and the public — especially when they’re younger — connect over an interesting topic.

 

Early morning bird hike at Albany Pine Bush Preserve Discovery Center in Albany, New York.

 

Environmental services photography assignments share a common thread. Whether they’re regulatory-driven initiatives, or projects designed to raise the profile of an agency, or to educate citizens about a particular problem or issue, these projects work to gain local support for community-based solutions. And what kid wouldn’t want to hold a small bird for a moment, then release it into the sky?

 

 

A Nashville warbler in the hands of an ornithologist at the Albany Pine Bush preserve in Albany, New York. Photo ©Suzy Allman Environmental Services Photography

 

Albany Pine Bush is a designated Bird Conservation Area and home to a surprising number (given it small size) of Species of Greatest Conservation Need (species that are rare or declining).

 

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Put my background in editorial sports photography to work for your next project. Capture the energy of your team at work, on training and field exercises, with heavy equipment or in challenging environmental conditions. These photos can be used again and again: in annual reports, your socials, on office walls and other marketing deliverables.  -Suzanne

 

  • CERTIFIED: SBA-certified WOSB, New York State- and City-certified WBE, and Port Authority certified DBE
  • REGISTERED: SAM & ORCA. Experienced in Federal Government contracting.
  • DUNS: 839898728.
  • FEIN: 84-2603642
  • We accept all government agency purchase orders and credit cards.

 

145 NEPERAN ROAD, TARRYTOWN, NY 10591

 

 

CONTACT

 

SERVING ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICE INDUSTRIES, ENGINEERS AND AGENCIES BY USING PHOTOGRAPHY AS A FORCE FOR GOOD.

Qualify Us Now! ProView

Dam Rehabilitation, Catskills

Dam Rehabilitation, Catskills

 

 

 

 

Dam Rehabilitation

In the Catskill Mountains

 

 

 

 

A dam rehabilitation project gets underway in the Catskills.

New work for a dam rehabilitation and removal project in the Catskill mountain area of New York.

When it was built, the dam was the second-largest dam in the United States. Today, it’s an aging, high-hazard dam that holds back a large impoundment area on the Rondout Creek in Napanoch, New York. This project, along with stabilizing the dam, will rehabilitate the streambed and floodplain.

We’re providing the progress photography and videography, including aerial work, for this historic project.

 

a blue-cast frozen waterfall in the catskill mountains

Frozen water in the spillway, Catskills dam project.

 

 

a female photographer in a winter field in the Catskill mountains of New York State

Beautiful tawny fields of wintertime in Napanoch, New York.

 

An overhead view of a streambed in winter

An overhead look at the creekbed, where a lake used to be. Rivers in the Northeast have for too long given enough to development and energy. Dam removal and stream restoration projects like this one re-establish vital riverine connectivity.

 

An overhead view of a rugged, rocky creek.

Rugged Roundout Creek, downstream of the dam.

Get in Touch

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Allman Environmental Services Photography is licensed for commercial drone operation by the FAA (Part 107).

 

  • CERTIFIED: SBA-certified WOSB, New York State- and City-certified WBE, and Port Authority certified DBE
  • REGISTERED: SAM & ORCA. Experienced in Federal Government contracting.
  • DUNS: 839898728.
  • FEIN: 84-2603642
  • We accept all government agency purchase orders and credit cards.

 

145 NEPERAN ROAD, TARRYTOWN, NY 10591

 

 

CONTACT

 

SERVING ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICE INDUSTRIES, ENGINEERS AND AGENCIES BY USING PHOTOGRAPHY AS A FORCE FOR GOOD.

Qualify Us Now! ProView

The Places We Go: Wadhams

The Places We Go: Wadhams

 

Wadhams, New York, in Essex County

 

 

 

Funny name, lovely landscape in this out-of-the-way corner of New York State. 

In a tucked-away corner of northern New York State, we delivered progress photography and videography (including aerials) for a water treatment project in Wadhams, a former mill town on the banks of the Boquet River. I’m always happy to do small projects like this one, especially when they lead to old-school or historic places I’d never find by accident. 

Not much there, not even the small-town basics. But the going up there is pretty, ambling along valleys between the Adirondack foothills and Lake Champlain. And if you’re there on any day except Monday and Tuesday, you can stop in at the Dogwood Bread Company — an oasis of conviviality, warm bread and fine cups of coffee.

Allman Environmental Services Photography provides progress photography and videography services (including aerial) to environmental projects of any scale and anywhere in the United States. We love the jobs that are challenging, out of the way or in difficult terrain. We’d love to hear about your project.