Flooded Railroad Tracks Posed a Hazard in Lee, MA. Fortunately someone had the good sense to hire Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions to fix the problem. He posted this yesterday on the Beaver Management Forum.
Recent Flow Device Installation Protects Railroad in Lee, MA
These pictures reveal flooding that was relieved when a blocked culvert on Highway 102 in Lee, MA was opened and fitted with a Fence and Pipe flow device. BMF member and aspiring NY flow device installer Sue Hendler and Josh Rondeau helped me on this project. The water was dropped by 18 inches but the beavers and a huge wetland remain. The railroad was very concerned about unstable tracks and a possible derailment. Trains can pass safely now.
- Flow device installed – Mike Callahan Photo
Great work Mike! And we are always happy to see you passing along what you know to the next generation of beaver helpers!
Maybe you’d be thinking that beavers and trains never coexist well. You’d be wrong. And just remember that one of the most important beaver books in history was written by an early railroad man who had the good fortune of crossing the united states looking to see where track should be laid. His name was Lewis Henry Morgan and he produced drawings like this.
I got to visit my old favorite beaver habitat on the border or Nevada yesterday in the high desert, and saw sadly that they had foolishly ripped out the myriad of little dams down stream. I was relieved to see that beavers had responded to this tragedy by building the tallest dam upstream that I have ever seen in the area. It was so tall the water backed up in a majestic pool and covered the entrances to their old lodge again. In the middle of waterless sage, scrub and pinyon pine, there was a beautiful pond, which made me very happy.
