Browns Canyon Takeout Gets a Facelift
The Hecla Junction River Access Point is the ending point for many of Wilderness Aware’s Arkansas River Browns Canyon rafting trips. River users recently benefited from a $1.2 million makeover that will make Hecla Junction more convenient for rafters and will protect it from flood damage. This site is the most heavily used access point on the Arkansas River. In an average year, over 90,000 people take out boats at the recreation site which is managed Colorado State Parks as part of the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area.
The boat ramp is located in the bottom of a dry wash that periodically floods. Erosion of the boat ramp has made Hecla Junction impassable for vehicles in the past. Large loads of sediment has also damaged trout habitat in the river. In 2006 and 2007 there were two different 500 year flood events due to huge thunderstorms that each deposited up to 3.5 inches of rain in nearby Centerville. River flow in the Arkansas River at the mouth of Hecla Junction jumped from 700 cfs to over 4,000 cfs in a matter of hours. These storms severely damaged the site and led to an insurance damage settlements of $330,000.
State Parks used the insurance settlements as an impetus to seek grant funding for this pilot sedimentation abatement and damage control project. A successful Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment grant of $425,000 and a Colorado State Parks Funding led to design work by Ayers Associates, an engineering firm with offices in Westminster Colorado. Other tributaries on the Arkansas River may benefit in the future if this project successfully reduces sediment going into the river.
Langston Concrete of Pueblo sent a crew of over 25 men and large contingent of machinery to the site and completed the project in only 100 days which was 80 days ahead of schedule. The crew poured 570 yards of concrete on the boat landing apron. They also laid Armor Flex below the high water line, a network of cinder block like tiles that are connected by a mesh structure. This non skid surface is a relatively new product for use in river boat ramps. A large boulder retaining wall and a bridge leading out of the area rounded out the project.
Wilderness Aware is excited to begin using the site in the spring of 2011. The improved ramp and parking area will improve safety for our guests and speed the loading of boats for a quick return to our headquarters after a great day of rafting on Browns Canyon of the Arkansas River. Hats off to Colorado State Parks, Ayers Associates, and Langston Concrete!
Hecla Junction Before Construction
Hecla Junction After Construction- Note the new bridge behind the backhoe, large concrete apron and parking area on the right, tri-level retaining wall on the left side of apron, and the rock lined sediment settling areas near the backhoe and on the far left.
Concrete and non slip Armor Flex apron where boats will land. River is very low in picture and will nearly cover the Armor Flex for most of the season.
