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Staff members with the city Department of Parks and Recreation set up a stage yesterday in the VIP area along Fall Hill Avenue in preparation for today's breach of the Embrey Dam. The road will be closed to traffic today beginning at 8 a.m. |
A quarter second.
When Army divers throw a switch to trigger explosives rigged to blow out a portion of Embrey Dam at 12:05 p.m. today, that's how long it will take.
It'll be a fittingly quick end to more than over a decade of efforts by an unusual coalition of environmentalists, scientists and government officials to bring down the aging dam to allow migratory fish upstream. For the first time since the mid-1800s, the Rappahannock River will once again run free from its headwaters to the Chesapeake Bay.
E-Day, as it may become known to future generations of Fredericksburgers, was heralded by the arrival of TV news crews and their satellite-receiver-fitted trucks over the weekend.
Yesterday, city workers were setting up the VIP area on the riverbank along Fall Hill Avenue where U.S. Sen. John Warner will deliver the keynote speech, and preparing for the crowd.
Some people wanting to get a last-minute look at the dam got a little too close, and had to be shooed away by Stafford County deputies who are patrolling a restricted area around it.
The dam blast may also trigger some revelry: One Normandy Village resident put up a sign proclaiming a "Dam Blasted Party."
Spectators are expected to begin staking out viewing spots early today, and traffic restrictions will be in effect. A portion of Fall Hill Avenue will be closed beginning at 8 a.m., and vehicles will be detoured through Normandy Village.
People wanting to view the breach are encouraged to get there early; there is no parking in the vicinity of the dam.
Parking is available at Old Mill Park, which will open at 8 a.m.; FREDericksburg Regional Transit buses will be shuttling people to the viewing area along Fall Hill Avenue every 15 minutes, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
An alternative to the outdoor venue is the National Guard Armory on the U.S. 1 Bypass, where the events will be shown, live, on a large-screen television. The armory can accommodate about 600 people.
Cox Communications will also broadcast the event live on its local cable-TV access channels. TV stations in Richmond and Washington are expected to carry coverage of the blast in their noon and evening newscasts.
The program begins at 11 a.m.; speakers include Warner--a fisherman, Virginia's senior Republican senator and longtime advocate of breaching the dam; W. Tayloe Murphy Jr., Virginia's secretary of natural resources; Fredericksburg Mayor Bill Beck; and John Tippett, executive director of Friends of the Rappahannock.
No public seating will be available at the outside viewing area.
At 12:05 p.m., Warner will signal Army divers to trigger 600 pounds of plastic explosives rigged in holes they drilled in the dam.
Plumes of water will shoot skyward, and if a test blast last week is any indication, the boom will be extremely loud, even though spectators will be several hundred yards away. The explosion will probably be heard some distance beyond the city limits.
City workers will be handing out free earplugs throughout the morning.
One minute prior to the blast, sirens on fire trucks and police vehicles will sound for 30 seconds. Anyone foolish enough to enter a designated restricted area around the dam will probably be arrested, police have said. The river itself is closed from the Interstate 95 bridges, downstream to Chatham Bridge.
As soon as the dam is breached, a wall of water will wash down the Rappahannock, draining the pool behind the dam which feeds the Rappahannock Canal. Water will be several feet high, and the usual springtime roar of the river will be magnified.
Engineers have calculated that there will be no flooding and no structures will be affected. Most of the water behind the dam should drain within 20 or 30 minutes.
After that, the demolition team will inspect the blast area, and if necessary, perform a "cleanup" blast to remove any debris blocking the 100-foot breach. The plan is to take out reinforced concrete panels at the base of the dam; the upper panels and supports may not be dislodged.
Following the breach, Friends of the Rappahannock, a local river conservation group that has been instrumental in removal of the dam, will have a community gathering from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Virginia Outdoor Center off Fall Hill Avenue.
The center, just downstream from the dam, will be a good spot to view the effects of the breach. FOR will have hot chocolate available along with T-shirts and items commemorating the dam for sale as a fund-raiser.
Later on, the city also hopes to make videos of the dam breach available to the public.
The rest of Embrey Dam will be dismantled and removed by February 2006.
To reach RUSTY DENNEN: 540/374-5431 rdennen@freelancestar.com
