Milburnie Dam Removal Improves River Habitat
Davey Mitigation removed the Milburnie Dam in Raleigh, NC, restoring natural flow and migratory fish passage to the Neuse River, providing compensatory mitigation for stream impacts in the watershed, including those associated with the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s I-540 project.
The Neuse River in Raleigh, NC is home to a historic dam site with a colorful history. The first dam, constructed in 1760, helped power a mill that ground flour and corn for the surrounding community. The site later evolved into a paper mill, a gristmill, and a sawmill. In 1899, the Raleigh Ice & Electric Company took over the property, bringing electricity to Raleigh for the first time through hydropower.
The Challenge
Decades after its construction, the Milburnie Dam became obsolete, causing ecological harm to the Neuse River along with public safety concerns. In 2002, a task force comprised of several North Carolina state regulatory bodies designated the Milburnie Dam for removal. In 2017, Davey Mitigation, formerly known as Restoration Systems LLC, spearheaded the removal after spending over 10 years in the planning and development stage. The project was heavily vetted on the front end by state and federal regulators, as it was the first dam removal project proposed for mitigation.
The Solution
Davey Mitigation’s Raleigh team took the dam down in sections, a plan that was designed to avoid a rush of sediment that was stored behind the dam from being released into the river. Since the removal required careful deconstruction, Davey Mitigation completed extensive pre-work documentation for over 7 years to ensure the removal wouldn’t cause further damage. Also, an extensive 7-year monitoring protocol was implemented post-dam removal to demonstrate the functional uplift to the river.
The Results
The removal took around 6 weeks and restored the natural flow to 7 miles of the Neuse River. For the first time in centuries, migratory fish native to the area could pass through the river. Over the 7-year monitoring period, the project met all performance standards and received all proposed stream credits. In 2025, the project was successfully closed out of the monitoring phase and entered the long-term management phase overseen by Sound Rivers, Inc.
The Milburnie Dam removal was a compensatory mitigation bank that provided stream mitigation credits to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. It was the first bank to use dam removal as an accredited method of compensatory mitigation, inspiring two regulatory documents from the U.S. EPA and USACE that encouraged similar projects.
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