BREAKING IT DOWN
P
reviously the Boxelder Basin Regional Stormwater
Authority completed the $5.1 million Coal Creek
Mitigation project, which involved irrigation ditch
improvements for flood control and adding flood control
storage to an existing irrigation reservoir along nearby Coal
Creek, a tributary to Boxelder Creek, by dredging material
from Clark Reservoir.
As big as the $8 million East Side Stormwater Detention
Facility was, it was actually one of three Authority projects
completed by Ayres in the past year.
• East Side Stormwater Detention Facility – An
1,800-acre-foot stormwater detention facility
constructed on the east side of Interstate 25
adjacent to the Gray Lakes Reservoirs that includes
an earthen embankment between County Road 50
and County Road 52, an ungated 12-foot-by-8-foot
box culvert outfall, a reinforced spillway, and related
appurtenances
• Larimer Weld Canal Crossing Structure – A defined
weir on the south side of the Larimer Weld Canal
at its crossing with Boxelder Creek crossing located
approximately one mile south of the East Side
Stormwater Detention Facility that includes a lowered
canal embankment fortified with grouted riprap and
related appurtenances
• County Road 52 Improvements – The installation of
four 4-foot-by-20-foot concrete box culverts under
County Road 52, tree removal along the north side
of the roadway, grading an area within the adjacent
email me and say, ‘You know, I was thinking about this,
and I’m thinking we need to make this modification,’ or
‘Here are a couple of suggestions I’ve come up with for
the presentation we’re going to make that I think would
help clarify things for the public.’ It was proactivity and
ownership. I felt like we were a team, working together.”
Construction of the 30-foot-tall East Side Stormwater
Detention Facility was completed in July, with the dam
standing ready to hold back flood waters from the
Boxelder Creek basin as intended and achieving the
original intent of the Boxelder stormwater master plan.
16│TRENDS
golf course north of County Road 52, and related
appurtenances
The Fort Collins and Timnath joint projects completed by
others during the same time period consisted of:
• Lake Canal Crossing of Boxelder Creek – A siphon
and associated appurtenances to transport flows in
the Lake Canal beneath Boxelder Creek just west of
Interstate 25
• Boxelder Creek Outfall and Prospect Road
Improvements – A side spill weir (split flow channel)
and flood conveyance channel on Boxelder Creek
upstream of Prospect Road along with six 12-footby-4-foot concrete box culverts beneath Prospect
Road west of Interstate 25, associated utility
relocations (i.e. electric, water, wastewater, gas, and
telecommunications), roadway restoration, and a flood
conveyance channel south of Prospect Road to the
Poudre River and associated appurtenances
• Boxelder Creek at Interstate 25 – Drainageway and
channel improvements and grading adjacent to and
upstream (east) of Interstate 25 and the opening of
two existing blocked culverts beneath Interstate 25
Next up is to take the record drawings from these projects
and bring them to Ayres for final floodplain modeling and
mapping to show that everything has been effective. The
Letter of Map Revision for the work is scheduled to be
submitted for FEMA review in early 2017.
“All in all, the project got finished in a manner that the
Authority board was pleased with,” he said.
Starman agreed.
“I think it turned out wonderfully,” Starman said. “It was
one of the most interesting and rewarding projects I’ve
worked on mainly because of the team aspect. There was
a lot of camaraderie, and we kind of linked arms and got
it done. I wish that all of my projects had the same kind of
teamwork emphasis.”