Note: I think this dam was located about ten miles southeast of Goldvein in the "far corner" of southeast Fauquier County. After 150 Years, Rappahannock Runs Free By Michelle Boorstein Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, February 23, 2004; 3:12 PM FREDERICKSBURG, Va., Feb. 23 -- The Rappahannock River ran free today for the first time in 150 years after a long-planned explosion put a hole in the base of the Embrey Dam near here, letting trapped water break away and returning the river nearer to its natural state. The blast, witnessed by a carnival-style crowd of 5,000 to 6,000 people, sent a cloud of brown smoke into the sky. It was followed by a great roar, as the water made its escape. It took two blasts, rather than one, to do the job. On the first try, only about a tenth of the 650 pounds of plastic explosive attached to the structure went off. It sounded more like a car backfiring than the blast the crowd had come to see. Considering the hundreds of pairs of earplugs that had been handed out for the occasion, the initial explosion came as something of an anti-climax. The second try, an hour and a half later, did the job. "Now that's more like it," said John Tippett, executive director of the advocacy group Friends of the Rappahannock. The explosion began the process of removing the concrete dam, which was built in 1910 to replace a wooden crib dam just above it and to provide electricity to Fredericksburg. The complete demolition of the dam, which stopped producing power in the 1960s, is scheduled to take place in 2006. The event brought out crowds rarely seen in this small city. Roads were closed off and many children were not in school for the blast, which meant the demise of one of the last relics of the city's industrial era. Tippett and others who came to see the explosion were elated at the prospect of migratory fish being able to make their way up the river to the Blue Ridge Mountains for the first time since 1854. For boaters, the demolition eventually will mean shooting the white water instead of portaging canoes and kayaks around the dam. Alan Weaver, of Virginia's Game and Inland Fisheries Department, said the dam's demise will make the Rappahannock the longest free-flowing river in the Chesapeake Bay watershed--184 miles from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the bay. Among those attending was U.S. Sen. John Warner (R-Va., ) who is credited with helping the project get full federal funding of more than $10 million for the blast and removal of the dam. But for most of the people who waited for hours on a brisk but sunny day, the event was all about watching an explosion and reminiscing about the times they've had on the river. Vendors sold out of T-shirts that said, "Let the River Run Free." A woodworker was selling $1,500 carved mantel pieces made out of bits of the original crib dam, which was partially dismantled by a crane last year. "It's pretty, and you get used to seeing it," Susan Sompayrac, 43, said of the Embrey Dam. She grew up in Fredericksburg and remembered playing as a teenager on the catwalk that runs along the dam beneath the water. The dam has not been that accessible in years. Nor has it been useful since it ceased generating hydroelectric power. It had become instead a major hazard on the Rappahannock, advocates of the demolition said. © 2004 The Washington Post Company