GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Heavy equipment rolled into the Grand River Wednesday as crews installed a temporary barrier downstream of Gillett Bridge to catch sediment and debris, the first step in a long-planned effort to remove four aging low-head dams.
The floating yellow barrier, known as a turbidity curtain, is designed to contain clouds of sediment stirred up during construction and prevent it from drifting downstream, said Mike Staal, river restoration project manager for the City of Grand Rapids.
“If there’s turbidity in the water, it impacts the aquatic habitat,” he said. “So what we want to do is just minimize any of the impact, keep the sediment where it is.”…