Envirocon wrapped up the project to remove the 120-year-old dam on the Blackfoot River on Friday, a full week earlier than what it had anticipated when it started work on Oct. 17.

"It came out pretty much just like we expected," said Matt Fein, Envirocon's senior project director.

The Bonner Dam, known by some as the Stimson Dam, was built in 1884 to provide power to a local sawmill and nearby communities. The rock-filled, timber crib dam was rebuilt several times over the years after being washed out in floods. The 1996 ice flow damaged the dam beyond repair.

It was located adjacent to the Stimson Lumber Co. mill at Bonner.

Fein said the project was a confidence booster for Envirocon, which is scheduled to start removing the much larger Milltown Dam in the next couple of years.

"It's certainly helping out with our confidence with the Milltown project," Fein said. "Our models worked. The river reacted like we thought it would. Water quality levels were just about what we expected. It just went pretty much as we thought it would." The bottom two-thirds of the Milltown Dam is constructed in the same manner as the Bonner Dam, said Kris Cook, Envirocon's lead person on the Bonner Dam removal project.

The Bonner Dam removal project provided some important insight into how that portion of the Milltown Dam is likely to react when demolition begins.

"Some things will certainly be different about removing Milltown," said Cook. "It's not too often you see a dam taken out anywhere, let alone in your backyard." "The key to getting these things done right is having good help," he said. "It really makes a big difference when you have good experienced operators out there." Cook said it was gratifying to see the Blackfoot River flowing freely once again.

"Work has proceeded efficiently and with no lasting impacts on the river," Cook said. "Our ultimate goal is to leave the Blackfoot in a much better condition than we found it."