Timelapse: Xcel Energy's Minnesota Falls Dam Removal Project

The 107 year old Minnesota Falls dam was removed from the Minnesota River near Granite Falls, MN in early 2013. At around 600 feet, the dam was the longest dam across the Minnesota River, but was no longer needed for company operations and had become significantly deteriorated. The demolition of the dam and restoration of the river, completed over two months, was captured in this time lapse video.
This Xcel Energy project was supported by Rachel Contracting as the primary demolition and earthworks contractor and by Barr Engineering as the primary engineering firm.
For more information about Xcel Energy, please visit www.xcelenergy.com.

[@gunner1506]

I enjoy watching old dams being removed and rivers being returned to their natural state.

[@lag9765]

Nice to see that people care about the health of our rivers. Good Work!

[@63256325N]

Well planned out removal and use of the material. Thanks for the video.

[@dderbydave]

thank you. ticks all the boxes. action sped up, music not irritating, no self centred droning commentary. just needs a follow up now.

[@JeffreyGroves]

Super efficient and well planned. Nice result!

[@johnkmcgregor5209]

Great stuff, are there any updated images, it would be good to see it now. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@1Ocqueoc]

it looked like some of that dirt/rocks were moved about 30 times

[@johnkmcgregor5209]

What does it look like now? John from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@squarerigtwo2057]

What does one do with the excavated rubble when the dam has been demolished?Thank you for the video;very impressive.

[@trulyinfamous]

Squarerig Two They take it elsewhere for construction, and the silt where the dam was will wash down the stream.

[@bikerktmktm21x]

At times it is used around the area to support the river bottom and edges as well.

[@williamlloyd3769]

Depends on local laws; in California, concrete waste is segregated from other rubble and reused in new construction projects. It turns out that disposal area space is valuable so keeping metals, concrete, asphalt, green waste, etc. out of landfill areas in good public policy.

[@barbosajennifer6509]

great

[@Celeron595]

Прикольно! Как из жизни водных насекомых. С теплотой сделано!!!

[@fundip2010]

...because maintaining a 100+ year old bridge might be more costly and could be detrimental to the river ecosystem?

[@JeffreyGroves]

There is no "could be detrimental" about it. Dams are certainly bad for river ecosystems.

[@chelseabill1237]

Jeff Groves yes but they make a new lake eco system

[@abit9485]

They missed a bit.

[@richardbehr314]

It is sad this dam could not have been refurbished to produce hydroelectric power. I used to go fishing around this dam a lot as a kid at "Pete's Point" resort (located at the time just below the dam). However, since it was decided to not refurbish the dam, the company did a nice job restoring the waterfall area and rapids to their original flow.

[@JeffreyGroves]

The fishing will be much better now that the dam is removed to allow proper up and down stream travel for fish. Dams kill river ecosystems and should be removed.

[@borderreiver3288]

why the need for such awful music and no subtitles...