Construction crews were putting the finishing touches this week on the newly reconstructed Arkansas River levee that carries the Riverwalk Trail west of the Raynolds Avenue Bridge.
With three months to go before runoff from winter snowpack again pours down the Arkansas River, Fremont County has successfully completed the reconstruction of a levee that was undermined last June by near record water levels. The Arkansas Riverwalk reopens Friday morning after the levee 300 yards west of the Raynolds Avenue Bridge was reconstructed over the past month.
Fremont County Manager George Sugars said Whinnery Construction of Lake City completed work on the levee earlier this week. After first having to divert the stream flow to allow heavy equipment to go to work in the river bed, crews finished installing ten-ton boulders that should protect the levee from any future flooding damage. The original concrete wall that was constructed in the early 1990’s was undermined and collapsed during the high spring runoff last May and June.
Whinnery Construction was the successful low bidder on the project at a cost of $147,235. The Board of Commissioners will consider a $40,000 change order at next Tuesday’s meeting to cover the additional cost of finding and installing boulders that met the engineer’s specifications. Fremont County intends to recover seventy-five percent of the cost of the project from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Cañon City Recreation and Park District also contributed $14,000 towards the initial cost of the project last fall.
This photo depicts the original concrete levee wall that started collapsing last summer during near record spring runoff on the Arkansas River