The Webhannet River is an
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data]
The National Map
accessed June 30, 2011 river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
whose
watershed is contained entirely within the town of
Wells, Maine
Wells is a resort town in York County, Maine, United States. Founded in 1643, it is the third-oldest town in Maine. The population was 11,314 at the 2020 census. Wells Beach is a popular summer destination.
History
The Abenaki Indians call ...
.
The river has five tributaries, including three with official names: Pope’s Creek, Depot Brook, and Blacksmith Brook. Draining a sandy outwash plain left by the last glacier, they run parallel to the southern Maine coastline behind the heavily developed barrier beaches of Wells and Drakes Island. The river flows into Wells Harbor, then empties between a pair of
jetties
A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...
into the
Gulf of Maine
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The Webhannet watershed includes of land under conservation, including of estuary
salt marsh
A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...
and uplands protected by the
Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge.
Jetties
In 1961-62, the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
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built two rubble-mound jetties to protect the channel to Wells Harbor. The north jetty was long, the south one , and extended roughly from the inner harbor to just past the beaches. A 1-ft-thick bedding layer and core of 3-in. to stone was covered with a double layer of stones weighing a minimum of two tons on the landward section and three tons on the seaward sections, for a total of 20,000 tons of stone. The cost for placing the stone was $95,600.
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In 1962-63, the north jetty was extended seaward at a cost of $29,300.
In 1965, the north and south jetties were extended seaward 1,225 and , respectively. The work required a total of 119,000 tons of stone and cost $594,600 ($ today).
The extensions are parallel to one another, spaced apart, and terminate at a depth of eight feet below the low-water mark. Their height above low water ranges from on their seaward ends to (north jetty) and (south jetty) at their landward ends. Their flat crowns are wide at the seaward end and wide at the landward end.
References
External links
Wells National Estuarine Research ReserveMap of Webhannet River estuaryU.S. Army Corps of Engineers description and drawing of Wells Harbor and its jetties, January 1989, pp. 31-32
{{coord, 43.315624, -70.564756, type:landmark_region:US, format=dms, display=title
Wells, Maine
Rivers of Maine
Rivers of York County, Maine