McLaughlin Whitewater Design Group

Chattahoochee Prep Readies for the Future

Risa — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 02:33:42 +0000

Photos of the construction site illustrates that the Chattahoochee River’s facelift is of epic proportions. Images of the flickr set provide a glimpse of the work that has established a channel right of center and the platform for adjustable elements. The design flexibility will allow the City to adjust or tune the Georgia / river left side once the dams are removed and beyond, years from now.

Nantahala River – Sweeter by the Day

Risa — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:45:30 +0000

On December 13th and 14th a crew of talented, earnest and enthusiastic paddlers convened to participate in an evaluation of the site that is outfitted with a tunable WaveShaper. Clay Wright, Pat Keller, Andrew Holcomb and Daniel Dutton were recruited to join the event, and we were also lucky to have Tommy Yon and Zach Thomason on hand to paddle and video the activity. Client Lee Liebfarth presided as he worked closely with Duke Energy on holding up flows when we were in the channel, and contractor Bill Baxter and his extraordinarily talented crew were on hand to haul and install key edits to the rocks steering flow to the feature. An unplanned equipment issue left us in the river well past 9 pm and we didn’t finish all the change we’d hope to achieve.

The feature has many of the positive aspects of the tried, true and temporary feature locals loved. It is deeper and has a lot more power that could stand to be toned down. More soon, as we hope to get in another round of edits. We thank our hosts, the awesome paddlers and Bill Baxter’s expertise, for it will the combined talents of this ‘village’ will help us, as Daniel puts it, ” take advantage of the design that is waiting there for us!”

The official site opening occurred on December 16th at which Andrew described the improvement as “a Christmas present to the region” and to the kayaking community.” See the the MWDG flikr set of Nantahala River Improvement photos, WorldKayak and 2013 World Championships site for more information.

Hartland Dam to Pass Boats and Fish

Risa — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 02:11:21 +0000

MWDG has designed an improved configuration for the Hartland Dam in Delta, Colorado. The modification objective is to:

Provide upstream passage for three native fishes, roundtail chub, bluehead sucker, and flannelmouth sucker, and to reestablish population connectivity for these fishes upstream and downstream of the dam.
Improve safety of boat passage over the existing dam.
Preserve the ability of the Hartland Irrigation Company to divert river flow for irrigation.

This is a landmark project for fans of the whitewater park movement for its progressive objectives and the tremendous effort made by project partners to serve multiple uses and users. Painted Sky, a 501c3 Colorado Corporation, is shepherding this important project as a steward of the Upper Colorado Basin. See their website for more project photos and detail. See the MWDG flickr set of project photos of the mid-construction diversion.

Nantahala Construction Begins

Risa — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 02:22:01 +0000

The design has been approved to install a version of the MWDG WaveShaper in the Nantahala River in Bryson City, North Carolina. The flow in this ever-so-popular river is dam controlled and flows daily, but sees a dry period each fall during periods of routine maintenance. On November 1st crews erected a coffer dam to move all flow to river left when flows resume, to allow construction to take place on rivee right. The constructed feature will be located where locals have been manually maintainng a great hole for several years. The improvement will be more than simply making the wave permanent: water can be shaped to flow into a wave or hole; the recovery area below will be cleaner and there just might be depth for squirting. Keep an eye on the webcam at noc.com/live.html to watch their progress!

Columbus Cut Bait Challenge

Risa — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 02:08:41 +0000

On October 31 Rick, Jack, and Risa visited the Columbus site where work on the Alabama side of the Lower Chattahoochee includes both blasting and building. The power of the water in this river is amazing, and challenging for both the design and project construction. The water does not flow like it would in a ‘normal’ river channel: indeed over half of the flow, which can peak at 14,000 cfs once or twice daily, charges into the ‘Cut Bait’ channel that was blasted over a hundred years ago into its current, completely unnaturally configuration.

Before heading to Columbus, we reached out to Sam Ovett who, along with four other skilled paddlers, provided feedback on the current configuration of the Cut Bait channel and high powered hydraulic that will one day provide an unforgettable climax to their day on the river Max Ovett, Matt Heath, Tony Rice and Hunter Katt were up for the task of paddling through or the hole as it approached 10,000 cfs. Hunter just styled it, several times and after starting out with a yard sale, Sam recovered with several controlled rides. Matt held his own. Risa got a beat down, and Rick paddled through smoothly, so we all had an opportunity to develop a personal perspective! Sam recounts the trip on his and Max’s blog and has shared photos that provide a feel for the size of the water. John Anderson will be back this weekend to check in, and the engineers back in Denver are modeling the next round of ‘edits’ as the work continues. Thank you guys, as well as Josh Bruner, for your time and enthusiasm!

Cutting Ribbon and Breaking Ground in Columbus, GA

Risa — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 05:00:00 +0000

Rick McLaughlin and John Anderson joined hundreds of interested officials, members of the business community and citizens of Columbus, Georgia and Phenix City to officially kick off the construction of the river improvements planned for the Lower Chattahoochee River. Initial work actually began a few weeks prior, creating paths for the equipment and materials to be moved in and out of the channel. The project has been envisioned for over fifteen years by John Turner and other city leaders: showtime approaches.

Auburn River Festival II Celebrates and Raises Funds

Risa — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:24:38 +0000

The second annual Auburn River Festival served as a celebration of the community’s effort to improve access at this great recreational spot and a fundraiser for Year I and 2009 Junior World Freestyle Kayaking Champion, Jason Craig. Visitors from abroad like David Stefan from Brazil spiced up the participant pool with great energy and enthusiasm! See photos of the event from the Roseville Press Tribune.

Hartland is Ready to Build!

Risa — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:02:33 +0000

Painted Sky RC& D has hired Kissner General Contractors, a locally based construction company specializing in river project, to build the Hartland Dam Fish Passage Project. The existing dam will be partially removed and replaced with a sloped rock structure to provide passage for several threatened fish species and boaters, connecting previously segmented reaches of the Gunnison River. MWDG finished the final design in the Spring of this year, reducing the construction costs by $250k to bring the project within budget. Wide spread support for the project is illustrated by the more than a dozen funding sources including Federal, State, Local, and Private entities that have called this a “project of national significance”. Partnership between Painted Sky, adjacent property owners and the Hartland Irrigation Company, owner of the dam, have been crucial to moving the project forward. Construction is set to begin in September and be completed by the end of the year.

Nantahala in Permitting Phase

Risa — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 02:57:42 +0000

Work on the Nantahala continues and the community is anxious for construction to begin! Surveying has been completed to document the current conditions and the pre-design is receiving public comments. Thus far, our partners Herron Associates have, a local surveying and engineering firm, have received a few requests for clarification or indication from agencies that the structure would not impair the river. So far, so good! Outfitters have voice some concern on behalf of their businesses.

Here’s a recent story produced by the local ABC affiliate.

Freestyle Welcome in Green River

Risa — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:01:26 +0000

The City of Green River welcomed paddlers May 20-21 at the first Green River Expedition Freestyle Whitewater Competition. This was the first time freestyle paddlers have been invited to Expedition Island in a few years and for many paddlers it also introduced them to the remodeled course. High water levels provided a challenge but a decent hydraulic was able to be created by the WaveShaper. Women’s World Champion Emily Jackson, who touted the town and her stay there.