Overcoming Challenges for Repairs to a Truly Unique Historic Dam - Easton Pond Dam in Newport, RI

South Easton Pond is one of the City of Newport, Rhode Island’s nine drinking water supply reservoirs, covering approximately 149 acres. The impoundment is immediately adjacent to residential neighborhoods, a heavily travelled roadway and the City’s signature oceanfront beach (Figure 1). It is encompassed nearly entirely by a 2.2 mile long earthen embankment varying up to 8-feet in height. A November 26 1892 article by the Newport Journal documents reconstruction and expansion of the dam and impoundment at that time, which extended the impoundment to the current western limits on the site of a former tidal marsh. An historic survey map recording dates of respective parcel acquisitions comprising the South Easton Pond reflects primary impoundment area acquisitions between 1876 and 1879. Original construction of southern and eastern portions of the embankment occurred approximately 115 and 130 years ago, while significant portions of south embankment, including the primary concrete spillway, were reconstructed in 1939 following the 1938 hurricane damage... 68 pp., 36 figures, 24 tables.