Flood Repairs at Lions Open Space

The Flood repairs at Lions Open Space, although a relatively small project, was one in which WSRI was able to showcase our many talents. Lions Open Space offers access to a portion of the Poudre River and the Pleasant Valley Trail which were both damaged by the 2013 floods.  The first phase of construction consisted of crew stabilizing the bank of the Poudre River by installing rock clusters to improve fish habitat and lines of rock to slow the river’s velocity and reduce bank erosion. During this process, crews used a cofferdam in order to dewater a portion of the river for this re-stabilization. Then two layers of boulder followed by riprap and erosion control blanket were implemented along to bank to help with stability.

The second phase of construction included revegetation and soil work on the river bank as well as repairs to the damaged section of the Pleasant Valley Trail. Damaged portions of the trail were ripped out and temporarily replaced with crusher fines paths before crews were able to fully restore with concrete.  This work also consisted of resetting, repairing and extending the existing sprinkler/drip irrigation system to irrigate the proposed and existing shrubs, trees, and grass.

The main challenge that accompanied work at Lions Open space revolved around traffic control whether that be with vehicles, equipment, or foot traffic. Since part of the trail was being repaired – people who used it were redirected to the parking lot. In order to avoid any accidents between vehicles, people, and equipment running onsite – A flagger was a necessity through portions of this project.