Dangerous Hammel Woods Dam Finally Getting Removed

SHOREWOOD, IL — It's been more than two years since Will County's Forest Preserve announced that the Hammel Woods Dam would be removed. Now, the work is set to begin on July 12, forest preserve officials announced Tuesday afternoon.

According to forest preserve spokeswoman Cindy Cain, the Hammel Woods Dam project will close a section of the DuPage River, a segment of the DuPage River Trail and a portion of the preserve. The project, approved by the Forest Preserve’s Board of Commissioners in spring 2019, will improve the health of the DuPage River and make it safer for boaters.

When the dam removal gets underway this month:

• The section of the DuPage River that goes through Hammel Woods will not be open for boating or tubing as the dam work takes place.
• A portion of the DuPage River Trail from Route 52 to the dam overlook will be closed. Trail closure signs will be put in place on the trail near Shorewood Grove.
• The Grinton Grove section of the preserve, which is the southernmost section, will be closed and the parking lot adjacent to the dam site will be closed.
• The portage area that exists now for boaters to go around the dam will be removed. A new canoe/kayak launch will be built downstream of the current launch prior to the old launch being removed.

Cain said the Hammel Woods Dam project is expected to be completed in October, but weather and other factors could affect the timeline.

The dam at Hammel Woods was the site of drownings in 2019 and in 2013.

Back on March 31, 2019, Joliet Patch reported that two people recovered from the DuPage River near Hammel Woods have been identified as 28-year-old Abraham Ramos of Palatine, IL and 22-year-old Hannah Tammeling of Plainfield. Ramos was pronounced dead around 10:45 a.m. and Tammeling was pronounced dead around 2:10 p.m.

Less than six years earlier, in late June 2013, Michael K. Hughes, 24, Itasca, died after drowning in the DuPage River in Shorewood, also at the Hammel Woods Dam.

Hughes and two friends—one from Bolingbrook and the other from Naperville — decided to go for a swim after departing from The Crowd Around Me, around 3 a.m. ignoring a "no swimming" sign posted near the dam in Hammel Woods.

After the Hammel Woods Dam is removed, natural river rocks will be added near the banks to create riffles that will oxygenate the water, according to Will County Forest Preserve officials. Native vegetation will be planted later to stabilize the riverbank. The work will return the river to a more natural state.

Semper Fi Land Services Inc. was hired to remove the dam. WBK Engineering LLC will oversee the work, and the Lower DuPage River Watershed Coalition has agreed to pay for the removal.