Tappan Lake Dredging Kicks Off

The dredging of Tappan Lake has finally begun with the equipment actually in place and on the water, according to Barbara Bennett, director of administrative services for the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD).

Bennett stated that 400,000 cubic yards of sediment would be removed from the bottom of Tappan, which would take place near Beaverdam Run Bay, Clear Fork Bay and along both sides of Deersville Road.

The silt is to be vacuumed through flexible pipeline, which will cross under U.S. 250 to a site MWCD owns, which is at the northwest corner of Addy Road and U.S. 250, according to Bennett.

The big blue and white machine with a large orange fixture, the Ellicott 370 Dragon Dredge, was given the name “CADIZ,” she said and added that the dewatering racks and basins were set up at the Addy property.

“The dewatering system is by mechanical means and state of the art systems,” Bennett stated by email. She said that using the pumping system would cut down on truck traffic, which would normally be used in hauling away the sediment. The dewatering system, which had been discussed in a previous MWCD meetings, is a system, which dries out the sediment much quicker, allowing recipients of the material to use it sooner than normal.

“We’re having ongoing discussions with Harrison County and also…ODNR (Ohio Department of Natural Resources),” Bennett said. “Nothing has been finalized but we will have over 400,000 cubic yards of material so there’s good material available for fill or use somewhere.”

Harrison County Commissioner, Don Bethel, stated the same that they were still discussing the matter with the MWCD and that they were still very interested in obtaining some of that sediment being pulled up from the lake.

Bethel had stated in a previous meeting earlier in the year that one idea for acquiring the sediment would be for use in filling the many small valleys near Industrial Park Road. The idea is to flatten out more land in order for the area to be even more attractive to prospective businesses, which have begun springing up there already.

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