Replies Created | Forums | bratholk

Boat launch nears usage
By Bill Kirk on Mar 12, 2015 at 2:52 p.m.
Email News Alerts
HAGER CITY–A new, two-lane boat launch and parking area on Trenton Island is expected to be ready for use in the next week or so.

Employees with Great Lakes Marine Contracting, Black Creek, knocked off work early last Tuesday so a welder could make repairs to the bucket of an excavator, used to construct reinforced concrete walls on either side of the double-wide landing on the back channel of the Mississippi River near Hwy. 63’s Lloyd Spriggle Memorial Bridge.

A small coffer dam was set up in the river to permit workers to excavate a segment of stream bank muck and replace it with a rock and gravel base. A portable generator was powering electric pumps on Tuesday, but workers expected to remove the temporary dam within a few days.

The job crew planned to pour the concrete for the lower portion of the launch’s ramp late last week, Pierce County Parks Superintendent Scott Schoepp said Thursday. Aside from some weather delays, the project has gone “pretty smoothly,” Schoepp said, though noting a few soft spots have been encountered by the excavator.

“The weather outlook is good for the coming week,” he said about optimism usage is near.

The new ramp will allow for two boats to launch simultaneously. It will also provide an accessible loading dock and courtesy dock. The shoreline has been reshaped and rip-rap installed, plus there will be lighting and a portable, wheelchair accessible toilet.

The majority of users head for the lock and dam at Red Wing, according to the superintendent. The main fishing activity occurs in the spring, and walleye and sauger are the kinds of fish most often taken.

Work on the refurbished landing was stepped up to take advantage of some federal funds recently made available. The total cost of the project is now placed at $375,000, Schoepp said. Cost-sharing measures are available, as the county was successful in obtaining a Recreational Boating Facilities Grant from the state and a Sportfish Restoration Grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The grants will cover approximately 68 percent of the cost of the project, with the remaining funds being provided by the county’s park development fund and timber sales revenues from the Mississippi Wildlife Area Islands.

“This major improvement project was made possible through a cooperative effort involving federal, state and county resources,” Schoepp said.

The project originated in 2011 when a small piece of the former Hwy. 63 right-of-way was acquired from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT). The property boundary had essentially split the existing boat ramp down the middle.

Project logistics developed over the past three years had an improvement plan involving removal of the previous boat ramps and parking lots. The initial plan was to construct two new separate double-wide ramps, but engineers determined there was inadequate space to accommodate the additional ramp. The original plan also called for the entire area to be blacktopped, but due to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) permeability regulations, this wasn’t possible. Final construction plans have the main ramp area and approach being blacktopped, while the parking area is to be surfaced with crushed rock.

The total acreage of the site—once known as Gene’s Tackle–is 2.2 acres, limiting the number of available ramps and parking spaces. The county acquired the overall property when several Trenton Island properties were obtained through a buy-out effort utilizing various grant programs including FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Wisconsin Emergency Management and Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Community Development Block Grants.

The project’s timetable first called for construction to begin late last October and the site to reopen in early January, but Schoepp said the contractor experienced a setback with another project on the eastern side of the state. So the start here happened in early January. The ramp is expected to close again for the final blacktopping late this spring.

Cedar Corporation of Menomonie has supplied the engineering services, while management and maintenance responsibilities have been headed by the county’s parks department. A seasonal park ranger is to work limited hours during peak usage to give general oversight and maintain the area.

Special appreciation is extended by the superintendent to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for their role in providing the funding assistance through the Recreational Boating Facilities Grant Program and their administration of the SportFish Restoration Grant Program.

“I personally want to extend my appreciation to Wisconsin DNR Natural Resource Program Supervisor Bruce Neeb for his efforts and assistance in obtaining the grant funding for this project,” Schoepp said. “Bruce works out of the West Central District office in Eau Claire.

Forum Replies Created