A low-head dam in Tyler State Park in Newtown Township should soon be gone.
On Sept. 8, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources are to begin a three-week project to remove the Spring Garden Dam located on the Neshaminy Creek inside the 1,711-acre park.
Its removal is part of a major ecological effort aimed at improving the health of the stream, enhance public safety and expand recreational opportunities, according to a DCNR press release.
Mike Parker, a fish commission spokesperson, said more than 400 dams have been removed over the past century across the commonwealth’s 86,000 miles of waterways, with an added push over the past decade.
“You’ve got dams that have been around for a long
time that don’t serve any functional purpose anymore," he said. "And while some of them might create a pool of water that aids in recreation and people might like them for fishing and boating, in many places there’s not a benefit and [the dam] actually takes away from the natural flow of the stream, the whole ecosystem and what aquatic life needs."
According to the press release, the dam doesn’t provide flood control or any recreational or functional benefits to the park. Its removal isn’t expected to increase flood risks or change the behavior of the creek during storm events or high-water conditions.
Built in 1819, the Spring Garden Mill dam was intended to create a mill race, moving water fast enough to drive a nearby grist mill. The dam is designed with a slope, now algae-covered, aimed to mitigate the hydraulic jump that can trap people underwater. Kids in the area still use it as a slide.
It was among the four low-head dams that this news organization took an in-depth look at after Alec Campbell, a Tyler Park ranger, died when he was swept over another low-head dam in the park in May 2025.
At least five deaths have occurred at Bucks County low-head dams since the 1970s. Bucks County Courier Times reporting on the fatal dangers of the dams was honored with a first-place win for enterprise reporting in the 2026 Pennsylvania Keystone Media Awards.
The $1.3-million dollar project to remove the dam is funded by $750,000 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund and $550,000 from DCNR’s Environmental Stewardship Fund.
Wildlife protection measures, including the temporary relocation of endangered red-bellied turtles, are to take place before construction begins.
During the course of the project, most park facilities, trails and recreational areas and the fisherman’s parking lot are to remain fully open and accessible to visitors, with the exception of the following:
- A temporary closure of the footpath along Tyler Park Drive near the dam while heavy equipment is present.
- A small section of the Neshaminy Creek Trail will be closed for a day or two while a new access gate and drainage crosspipe are installed.
Construction is expected to conclude Sept. 31 with landscaping and site restoration to follow.
The safety risks of low-head dams
The Spring Garden Mill dam is approximately 0.7 miles from the Neshaminy Weir Dam. Both dams are popular attractions for boaters and swimmers, but few may realize the dangers that these dams present.
Low-head dams are so deadly that in 2023, Brigham Young University assembled a list of every low-head dam in the U.S., along with the fatalities. Its report concluded: “In the U.S., more people have drowned at low-head dams in the last 50 years than from all the large dam failures during the same time period.”
At least six people have died at low-head dams on the Neshaminy Creek in Bucks County, according to the BYU’s research.
Parker, in a 2025 interview, said that’s why state law requires all low-head dams to be well-marked as dangerous. The dam in Tyler State Park had at least a half-dozen warnings to stay off the dam and stay out of the water.
“You can never underestimate the power of water, no matter how nice it looks,” he said.
“The hydraulics of these things are generally not known by the public. There’s a low-head dam in the Susquehanna [River] in Harrisburg that’s killed around 30 people over the last few decades.”
The lethal nature of low-head dams is especially deceptive. On the water, from a canoe or kayak, an optical illusion is created blending the water levels into one. It may look like smooth sailing, with very little to no drop at all, until your kayak, canoe or boat draws near to the falls.
The cause of Campbell’s death was not released publicly.
Reporting since May 23, however, suggests the likelihood that Campbell was setting two striped warning buoys in front of the dam, and stringing a safety line from shore to shore, when he and his kayak were swept over the dam in a swift current from two previous days of heavy rains.
In Pennsylvania alone, more than 100 deaths have occurred at three dozen dams across the commonwealth, according to the BYU report.
Michele Haddon can be reached at mhaddon@usatodayco.com
JD Mullane can be reached at jmullane@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Removal of a low-head dam in Tyler State Park set to begin next week
