Connections

Issue 2 • Volume 3 • April 10

ENVIRONMENT

B&B Excavating and the Eagle River Restoration

Homestake Reservation is located in Colorado near the Continental Divide and the headwaters of the 77-mile-long Eagle River. The 235 acres in and around the former Eagle County mining towns were declared a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site in 1986 due to heavy metal loading to the river. Environmental stewardship of the river has changed this, and fortunately, it is now enjoyed by outdoor enthusiasts.

An initial cleanup in the late 1980s included relocating all processed mine wastes and contaminated soils to one main onsite tailings pile, capping the pile and revegetating all disturbed areas with native plant species. However, an EPA study completed in 1995 confirmed that continuing remedial action was required.

Eagle River Watershed Council (ERWC) and a coalition of citizens, local conservation organizations, and municipal and county agencies continued working to ensure the watershed was protected. Formed in the mid-1990s, ERWC was incorporated in July 2004 and received IRS designation as a 501c(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization.

In 2003, ERWC spearheaded a research project led by Colorado State University known as the Eagle River Inventory and Assessment. This study showed good water quality, but substantially degraded riparian habitat within the 1.6-mile-long Edwards/Lake Creek reach of the river. With its new nonprofit organization status, ERWC were now able to solicit and receive private contributions.

Logs and boulders have been placed to provide in-stream structures and create localized back-water conditions.

ERWC set out to raise funding for an improvement project feasibility study. The Eagle River Water & Sanitation District eagerly contributed and, as a partner, was also able to lend its proposal and contracting expertise to the process. After review of several proposals, a Boulder-based engineering group was selected to assist in site assessment, project design and public relations.

To implement the designed improvements known as the Edwards Eagle River Restoration Project, funding came in part from the Natural Resource Damage Fund, created from the state's settlement with the former mine operator. ERWC, along with the engineering firm, had to raise additional matching funds through the support of many partners in order to be awarded the grant.

Eagle River After 45 years of rock being mined from the Eagle River floodplain, ERWC wanted to put some back. When the project to restore the Eagle floodplain within the community of Edwards was announced in spring 2008, B&B Excavating went after the job. While reviewing the project plans, the company realized the plans included the site adjacent to its former office, pit, asphalt and concrete batch plants. (B&B Excavating joined the Oldcastle Materials Group in 1999.)

"We recently sold the property in Edwards where our first combined facilities were located," said Jason Burkey, B&B's director of development, planning and administration. "Even though we closed on the property sale in the fall of 2008, we will continue to operate our concrete batch plant on the Edwards site until 2013, and operations will continue at the company’s other sites located down valley in Eagle and Dotsero. The Eagle River has been very good to us, and we think we’ve been good to it through responsible operational policies and practices."

Eagle River B&B was determined to win the bid on the high-profile project as it was a natural extension of the firm's capabilities. With sister companies in Colorado – United Companies, Four Corners Materials and Telluride Gravel – the company's resources and capabilities were a perfect fit for the job.

The goal of the project was to restore the section of the Eagle River to its original channel with minimal disturbance to the Gold Medal fishing areas downstream.

Jake Jacobsgaard, Jason Burkey and Jeremy Carfi with the new Deere excavator

After winning the contract in September 2008, B&B purchased a new Deere 350D LC excavator and had it filled with a bio-degradable marine hydraulic oil. The company also purchased AquaDam^® water-inflated dams and floating silt curtains to trap sediment within the work areas to prepare for the project.

"To construct the channel bars, we dammed the ends of the work zone to prevent the current from flowing in," explained Jeremy Carfi, B&B's project manager. "We were able to place large, fractured dredge rock along the banks to serve as a sub layer. The native cobble boulders are a minimum of 36 inches in diameter and seat themselves into the river bed, to a target of half their depth or more."

Public outreach is important for high-profile projects like restoration of natural waterways.

"Any material excavated from the river was piled in a containment area and allowed to dry," explained Jake Jaconsgaard, B&B’s project superintendent. "The sandy materials were used to fill deep areas before bar construction. We also placed selected boulders and logs in the middle of the river at exacting locations as determined by the engineer."

Perhaps the most difficult part of the work involved the water-inflated barriers. The AquaDams^® required on-the-job learning to become efficient at placing them and moving them from work area to work area, but performed as anticipated.

In spite of commercial and residential development in the area, the natural beauty of the land has been preserved throughout the valley. B&B Excavating is proud to have been a part of the Eagle River restoration process. The project utilized a coordinated program of bank stabilization, stream channel improvements, riparian vegetation establishment and improved land use management to improve habitat. The project offers significant public benefits by enhancing recreational river access, Eagle River Sign including overlooks, fly-fishing, boating and hiking and has been nominated for several environment awards.

The first phase of the project was finished in December 2009. Funding for Phase II is in the final approval stage and B&B is looking forward to an extension of its contract through 2011.

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