State requires additional work on Weiser River boat ramp

A project to repair the currently unusable boat ramp on the Weiser River at Midvale will cost more after the Idaho Department of Water Resources required additional work before approving permits to proceed.
 Washington County commissioners were recently informed that the state water agency wants the contractor to place rocks, also known as riprap, in places both upstream and downstream of the boat ramp to prevent the river from undermining the structure.
 The extra rock that the IDWR is requesting to protect the ramp will add to the project costs. The contractor estimated an additional 45 yards of rocks would be required at a cost of $2,815. The total project will cost about $10,000, officials said.
 “We have to do this in order to get a permit from the IDWR,” said Tony Buthman, the county’s emergency managament director. 
 He said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has already approved the new boat ramp at Midvale. Doing any construction in the Weiser River requires state and federal permits. 
 The scope of the work includes removing the old cement ramp and pouring a new one that will be armored and sealed. Over the years the river has washed gravel away and undermined the existing ramp to the point that it is not possible to launch a boat. 
 The access road to the boat launch ramp will stay gravel. The parking area around the approach to the boat ramp is in need of leveling and cleaning up. The county’s road and bridge department has offered to do that work.
 County commissioners approved the ramp reconstruction project in August. The work has been discussed for a few years and even went out to bid in 2015 but was never completed.
 The county’s waterway department, which is administered by the sheriff’s office, will pay for the ramp work. The waterways department receives some funding from boat registration fees and will pay for the ramp project out of its capital fund.
 The sheriff’s office is responsible for patrolling waterways in Washington County, including rivers and lakes. Officials have wanted to get the boat ramp fixed in the event deputies have to launch a boat in the river in response to an emergency. The public also would be able to launch boats or rafts at the Midvale site when it is repaired.
 The work will be done during a period when the river level is low, which is usually in the late fall or winter. 
 The sheriff’s department patrols 52 miles of waterways in the county. Some money from boat registration fees go to the county’s waterway fund for improvements and projects.
 Money from the county waterways fund also paid for new floating boat docks at Mann Creek Reservoir a couple of years ago.
 

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Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
PH: (208) 549-1717
FAX: (208) 549-1718
 

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