Williamsport fish ladder still hampered by some gate issues
The Williamsport fish passageway, a mechanical gated ladder system that allows fish to pass around the dam on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River near Hepburn Street, is still not operational due to gate malfunctions that have lingered throughout the spring and summer months.
“The crew tried freeing the gate again today with recommendations from the gate manufacturer but were unsuccessful,” said Luke Ulsamer, of DCNR-Tiadaghton, which oversees the structure’s operation and maintenance, on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. “I’ll need to consult with our team to figure out a gameplan for getting this gate operational again.”
Ulsamer originally contacted the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association on April 29 that something broke in the gate structure during routine maintenance. At that point there was no timeline for repair.
In mid-September, Ulsamer relayed that the agency finally had received the necessary parts to fix the fish ladder.
“While waiting for the parts we did a practice run on pumping out the holding chamber needed to make repairs so that we could be confident our staff could safely complete the repairs,” he said.
Various storms and high-water events forced the crew to wait until early October to tackle the repairs.
“On 10/4, the crew got a plan and using some hi-volume pumps they pumped the chamber out to complete the repair. The old thrust nut indeed had stripped threads as expected. The new thrust nut was installed without issue, but they were unable to lift the gate with the gas-powered gate operator,” said Ulsamer, who later shared that they attempted additional efforts to break the gate free using recommendations of their engineers and had no luck and would be contacting the gate manufacturer.
“I will be consulting more with our team to get this gate operational again,” he said in an email on Oct. 24, admitting that it takes a lot of preparation to make any fixes on the structure safely.