Local consulting engineering firm wins national award

CHESTER — A local consulting engineering firm has been selected by the American Council of Engineering Companies to receive a National Engineering Excellence Award.

Nathan L. Jacobson & Associates, a civil and environmental engineering firm located in Chester, was selected in 2021 by ACEC National for their work on the Pages Mill Pond Dam Fishway on the Farm River in North Branford, according to a press release.

The Farm River has one of the largest populations of wild trout for a Connecticut coastal river and has been targeted by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Inland Fisheries Division as one of the best opportunities to establish a run of sea-run brown trout while at the same time further developing the existing river herring runs, the news release said.

The fishway consists of a series of concrete structures and sloped aluminum steep-pass sections designed to avoid impacts to the river and existing infrastructure, for hydrodynamic forces during extreme flood events, and to meet the owner’s aesthetic requirements, the company said.

The 170-foot-long fishway will allow resident brown trout and target species to climb 10 feet to reach the 4.25-acre head pond and six miles of river habitat above the dam. The target species are diadromous fish (fish that spend portions of their life cycles in both fresh water and saltwater) including sea-run brown trout, alewife, blueback herring, sea lamprey and American eel.

This is the first time in 323 years that target species have had access above the dam since construction of the dam and a mill at the site in 1697, the company said.

Restoring the free passage of migratory fish species has a positive effect on the health and numbers of the target species and cascading benefit to the health and wellness of species on subsequent levels of the food chain. The project was built in 2020 for approximately $373,000.