Springfield Mill Race Restoration Project

Phase II of the Mill Race project is fully under way. Just Bucket Excavating has been working in the pond area, excavating the new channel. Staton has been working at the Booth Kelly site, demolishing the dam and other barriers to fish passage.

At any given time there is a half-dozen giant excavators on site, breaking concrete and loading off-road trucks.

The first contractor has started work in the old Mill Pond.  When we drained the pond, we discovered many old logs.  We advertised for companies interested in recovering these logs.  A local Springfield firm, Urban Lumber, expressed interest.  Yesterday, they moved into the pond and began the recovery efforts.

We estimate that in one day Urban Lumber recovered some 5,000 board feet of pine and some 2,000 board feet of fir. Springfield is proud to be a part of this recovery effort.

There’s lots of activity going on behind the scenes getting ready for start of construction for Phase II.  We’ve been busy.

Last summer we discovered three previously unknown underground storage tanks.  Earlier this year, City staff exposed these tanks to allow contractors to provide pricing for the removal of these tanks.  You can see the excavation, covered with white plastic to prevent erosion, on the webcam.  The removal contract has now been awarded and the tanks will be removed and disposed of in the near future.

We will remove the Carpentry Shed that crosses the Mill Race. As a precaution we will have a contractor perform testing for asbestos materials in the Carpentry Shed prior to its demolition.  Should we find any asbestos materials, these will be disposed of properly by a licensed contractor.

When we drained the pond, we discovered a large number of logs on the bottom of the pond.  This was not entirely unexpected, but the number of logs was greater than we thought.  Typically, these logs would be pulled out and landfilled.  To keep these logs out of the landfill, we are working with a local company to recover and reuse as many of these logs as possible.  Our hope is that one day you may be able to buy furniture or side your house with wood from 50 year old logs from our pond.

Lastly, we are soliciting proposals for the Dam demolition.  The dam itself is not a historically significant structure and would interfere with the success of the overall project.  The dam demolition project will include the removal of the dam itself, the various concrete hard structures around the dam, and the carpentry shed.  We are also taking this opportunity to do some grading to allow for future recreational use of the area.  We expect that the demolition of the dam will generate more than a 1,000 cubic yards of concrete.  We will grind this into small pieces and reuse on site.  The steel will be recycled.  We hope to minimize the amount of material going to the landfill.

We feel the restoration of the Mill Race and the conversion of the Mill Pond to a natural space is an important event in the history of Springfield.  So much work has gone into making this happen that we want to bring it to you live.

As you can see from our updated page, we have a Phase II webcam up and running.  We expect to see lots of construction activity starting in late July as the earth moving operations start up.  In the meantime, come back often and see what’s happening at your Mill Race project!

The Phase I construction at Clearwater Park hit a milestone Thursday, May 27, with the completion of major work tasks in Clearwater Park.  The park and boat ramp will be open for public use starting Saturday, May 29 at 8:00 am.  Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend!

Staff scouting the drained mill pond site with a representative of the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife in late May were delighted to see a bald eagle gracefully soar overhead.  A harbinger of the wildlife viewing opportunities ahead for the restoration site in downtown Springfield, the eagle was probably seeking a meal in the form of the non-native carp attempting to escape the shallowing waters.

After the 2010 construction season, the mill pond will be rejuvenated as a habitat-rich meandering stream with off-channel backwaters and wetlands.  As the wildlife benefits from this resource and increases in population, the site promises to emerge as a premier nature watching location.  This bald eagle is certainly not the last to be seen soaring overhead.

Bald eagle shown in inset soars over the drained mill pond (center). Click to enlarge.

During the Mill Race Phase I construction, crews removed invasive species within a hundred feet of the Mill Race channel.  Thousands of Oregon native plants were planted in their stead.

While the cool, wet weather has wreaked havoc on our construction schedule, it has been good for the plants.  The willows are growing in very nicely, with many of the other plants not far behind.

Inlet plantings

Inlet plantings

The construction of the park calls for a new, larger boat trailer parking area.  Crews have been working on this for quite a while.  With the wet winter, compaction was difficult to achieve.  Just Bucket Excavating brought in two feet of rock on top of geotextile fabric to insure a solid subbase and base for the pavement.

We had a good break with the weather. The base course is dry and compacted and paving operations have begun.  The parking lot will be paved in two lifts or layers of asphalt.  The first layer goes on the rock subbase and the second, final layer goes on top of new or existing asphalt.

Paving

Paving the parking area

Paving the parking area

Patching the existing asphalt

Where the final lift will go on top of existing asphalt, any damage or trenches dug during construction are patched and compacted.

Independent laboratory inspectors are on site during the paving operations to insure that the asphalt meets the specifications and the intended use.

Testing the pavement

Anxious fishers are eager to see the Clearwater Park boat ramp re-open to public use.  The ramp has been closed this spring while excavated soils were hauled off site and the new parking area gets regraded and paved.  Crews have been working toward a Memorial Day weekend deadline to re-0pen the park for the summer season.  Unfortunately, this closure meant loss of a local river access point during 2010′s excellent salmon run.

Crews are working extended hours, including Saturdays and Sundays, to ensure they meet the Memorial Day weekend re-opening.  The Army Corps of Engineers is pressing their contractor to get the job done.  During this construction thrust, the City of Springfield project team is emphasizing requests to constrain construction noise to the county’s noise ordinance of 7:00 am to 10:00 pm.  Clearwater Park is outside of city limits and is not enforced under the city noise ordinance.

The Mill Race Ecosystem Restoration partners extend our thanks to the community for your patience and understanding while this momentous project is underway.