The town of Falmouth was awarded a $125,000 grant to replace a failing culvert on Mast Road and the Suckfish Brook Crossing. 

The grant awarded last week is part of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s Stream Crossing Public Infrastructure Improvements Projects program. Falmouth will match the grant with $85,000 in municipal funding, for a total of $210,000 slated towards the project.

Suckfish Brook is a tributary of Highland Lake, which has a history of water quality issues from high sediment loads, according to an article in the Falmouth Focus. The brook is adjacent to the Suckfish Brook Conservation Area. 

“We are hoping to replace the culvert later this year,” Town Engineer Justin Early said in the Falmouth Focus. “The schedule hasn’t been narrowed down yet as we still need to sign the grant agreement documents with the (Maine Department of Environmental Protection).”

Replacing the culvert will help preserve recent work done to improve water quality in the lake and the aquatic habitat in the stream. The town intends to replace the metal pipes with a concrete box culvert in the stream to help promote fish passage.

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