Meadow Pond Dam facts for kids

The Meadow Pond Dam was a dam made of earth in Alton, New Hampshire, in the United States. It broke down in 1996. This caused a big flood that sadly led to one person's death.

Where Was the Dam?

Alton is a town with about 5,000 people. It is located at the southern tip of Lake Winnipesaukee in central New Hampshire. A main road called Route 140 helps people get to town from the west. Route 140 crosses the Merrymeeting River just west of the town center.

Building the Dam

The Bergeron family owned a large property of 696 acres. This land was located northwest of the river crossing. Meadow Pond was on their property. After buying the land in the early 1990s, the Bergerons built a dam. They paid for it themselves. Their goal was to make the original pond much larger. They wanted more space for boating and other fun activities.

The pond grew to 45 acres of water. This was about 92 million gallons of water. A trapezoid-shaped earthen dam held back this water. The dam was 465 feet long and 36 feet high.

The Dam Breaks

On the evening of Wednesday, March 13, 1996, the dam owner's wife noticed something. The creek running between the Bergeron dam and the Merrymeeting River was very full. Bob Bergeron, the dam owner, checked the dam at 6:46 p.m. He found a three-foot hole had opened in the dam. Water was flooding the area between his house and Route 140.

Less than ten minutes later, the dam completely broke. This released 92 million gallons of water very quickly. The water rushed towards the town.

What Happened After the Flood?

The rush of water from the dam break caused a lot of damage. It washed away a section of Route 140. A large truck, called a tractor-trailer, sank into a hole in the road. The truck's owner, Larry Sinclair, was rescued by a neighbor. Sadly, his wife Lynda, who was in a pickup truck behind him, was swept away by the floodwaters. She was killed when her truck went into a ravine.

About a quarter-mile of the road was damaged. The flooding also caused power outages. People in Gilmanton, Belmont, and Alton lost electricity.

Why Did the Dam Break?

At first, people thought many things could have caused the dam to break. Richard Canuel, a Code Enforcement Officer, suggested it could be a simple leak. He also mentioned natural effects like ice blocking the water.

Later, experts investigated the dam. A civil engineering company called GEI Consultants studied the failure. They found that the dam broke because of problems with its design and how it was built. The design did not properly consider cold weather. Also, mistakes made during construction made the problems much worse.