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Introduction <br />In 2000, the City of Pueblo contacted me regarding the planning. and design of a proposed <br />Whitewater Park on the Arkansas River near downtown Pueblo, west of Union Street Bridge. <br />The City was interested in re- constructing the existing channel to create drop /pool sequences, <br />eddies, currents, and various whitewater features to create a whitewater course. The vision and <br />intent of the project is to create a Whitewater Park that could hold slalom and rodeo events, as <br />well as to attract the many area paddlers on.a regular basis. In addition, the project was designed <br />to improve the safety of an existing diversion dam <br />A preliminary design was completed and presented through numerous public meetings. <br />The initial.phase of the project consists of eight drop /pool sequences, along with large boulder <br />placement and bank reconstruction for spectator seating. The structures will be constructed of <br />large natural stone, held together by concrete grout. Additional improvements located near the <br />existing St. Charles Mesa Water District diversion structure near Moffat St. (Moffat St: Chute) <br />were also investigated for whitewater boating safety and whitewater feature construction. These <br />whitewater improvements . were included as part of the overall U.S. Army Corps of Engineers <br />River Enhancement Project. <br />Project Design- <br />The intent of the design is to transform the existing uniform channel into an area that has a <br />variety of structures and interest to a wide variety of whitewater paddlers. <br />The Whitewater Park design incorporates a variety of diversion and control structures to <br />create whitewater features that are conducive to whitewater paddling:. All of these features . <br />provide a better boating experience at the higher flow rates and therefore draw more boaters at <br />those rates. Obviously, very high flood flows are not considered as normal boating flows, but the <br />course was designed to withstand the impact of high flood flows. Structures included in the <br />Whitewater Park include off -set deflectors, "U" drops, and "V" drops. Each of these is followed <br />by a self-scouring pool. These structures are designed to divert and control the flow at specific <br />points to create surf waves, rodeo holes, standing waves, eddies, and jets- water for squirt <br />boating. As water flows increase, these wave forms become larger, more powerful, and <br />conducive to the sport'of whitewater rodeo, play - boating, and slalom racing. The structures <br />included in the Whitewater Park are massive structures built of large - stone grouted together with <br />concrete, spanning the entire channel and are anchored well into the bed and banks of the river. <br />They are designed to divert and control water to create whitewater boating features, particularly <br />at high flows. These structures function even if they are partially inundated, and work together in <br />tandem to create the desired features. See the enclosed plan map of the Whitewater Park. <br />Part of the design is a modification to an existing barrier. The existing barrier (the West <br />Plains diversion structure) consists of a concrete dam drop structure that spans the entire channel, <br />2 <br />lab0424 <br />