Zanesville Cleans Up Debris at Y-bridge Dam

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – The city of Zanesville is taking on a new project cleaning up debris at the Y Bridge.

The project will involve the debris removal from the west side of the Lock 10 dam. City Engineer, Chip Saunders said the debris has built up for roughly 15 years. The project will begin on Thursday where a series of barges will be brought in to remove the debris and then is carried out of town.

“They have a series of barges. They’re going to have an excavator on one of them. And then the other one has got a motor on it. And they’re going to pull the trees off, put it on the barge, run it up to Kirkbride Marina, and they take it off of Kirkbride and haul it out of town,” said Saunders.

The city received a grant from two agencies, the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The city’s estimate was $200,000, and the bid came in at $176,000. Saunders said the debris has always been a concern for them.

“It’s something that we worry about the pressure on the dam being in the city. And it’s also not very aesthetic when you see that. You drive across the Y-bridge and you see that pile of debris there, it doesn’t look good. But we don’t have any jurisdiction on the river or on the dam. But it meant enough to us to go after the grants to make the project happen,” said Saunders.

The project begins on Thursday and will last for 10 days.