Progress on Fisher's Ford Park - OPEN

[panicman]

So, how many features are going to be built. How long will it be? SOmething beginers can work on basic skills like eddy hopping. Never been there.

[Shep]

From looking at the plans, and talking to Steve, there will be three in-water elements. Most upstream, and most oriented to begginers, will be some man-made islands to generate eddy lines to play with. Below that, there will be two waves, I think about the same size. I am not sure how aggressive they will be, but they should be somewhat similar to the current wave, but with more depth. This hopefully will make it a little safer to flip while you are in the wave, and make it easier for advanced play-boaters to get vertical.

Many rec paddlers currently paddle through FF without a problem, and I know the design is supposed to keep that a realistic possibility, but I don't believe it uses a "bypass channel" to do it. That tells me that it shouldn't be too much for beginners.

Thanks,
Paul

[Shep]

Sorry, double posted.

[paddledog]

Shep is right on with the info.
I will add that there will be a "fish ladder'" beside each wave.
The only way a fish can go upstream is to eddy hop.
So the fish ladder will contain stones to create the necessary currents.
Spread the word, don't go down the fish ladders
Especially upside down......

[paddledog]

Here are the drawings,
I believe they are a bit out of date
However no major changes.
http://malvernwave.wordpress.com/fisher ... ary-plans/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CAPTAIN ALEVE]

The rumor of this construction is indeed true! Keep posting those pics. It seems to have been a surprise to the paddling community. Were local paddlers consulted on the design or was that entirely between the landowner and the design company?

Mike Coogan, alias Captain Aleve

[Ben Rodda]

My experience with REP that the quality of the features will depend largely on who the project manager is. Mike Harvey is awesome and is mostly responsible for all of the great features in the Arkansas Valley. However when REP did work on a feature in Lawson on Clear Creek that it was a massive debacle. They essentially destroyed the most dynamic low flow feature in the state of Colorado. Something that they promised they would not do. They did come back to repair but it took a while and there is debate that it is truelly as good as it formerly was.

I would suggest that you folks that are local drop by while they are doing the in channel work. Years ago in Golden a crew was doing some work to a river bank in Golden. Some kayakers essentially bribed the workers to move some rocks with a case of beer and created what was called the bingo hole. It was a dynamic low water feature that was giving up loops at around 430 CFS. The next season REP came in to build a few more features on the lower half of the Golden play park and destroyed the feature.

Additionally in the past they hire local heavy equipment operators to do the work. They are not the ones operating the equipment and often times in the past are not even onsite the entire time these operators are doing the work. The operators will follow what the papers and directives tell them to do but wont understand what the resulting goal really is. So establishing a friendship with these guys and helping them to understand how their work will impact he water. Additionally it will help to have some local on hand who know the spot more intimately.

We all have hopes of a really fun feature which is totally possible... even if REP is building it but it its going to take a good deal of attention to see that through.

[Shep]

I think it is safest for me to respond to these posts, mainly because I really don't know what the hell I'm talking about!

It is my impression that some locals were involved in the conversations, but it was not discussed widely. I think it is important to recognize that much of the background work was done by a charitable organization, and that the City of Siloam Springs, and NWA, SWMO, and NEOK paddlers are the beneficiaries of that organizations generosity.

As far as the construction, particularly the in-river portion, it is not something that will be accessible. The only good access to view the river site is through the construction site, and that is likely to PO some construction workers and managers. At this point, we should see what we've got before the end of October, but I, for one, am confident that we will be pleased with the result.

Shep

[CAPTAIN ALEVE]

Of course the river can't be closed to public traffic, so people floating or fishing will be allowed to pass through the work site. A delay may be imposed while some particular bit of work is going on, but the public must be allowed to pass through. That's the way it has been on all state highway bridge construction jobs. If you think back to work on the Ouachita River at Malvern, you will remember the "Construction Ahead" signs that were posted in the river near the boat ramp at the Rockport Ledge. The same system was used on Cadron Creek when the Pinnacle Springs Road bridge was built - a construction ahead sign in the creek.

You should be able to float close enough to the construction to remain safe and still take some photos.

Do you suppose that any city and landowner could modify rapids in a river passing through their jurisdiction or property without notifying the paddling community? Pretty much the only choice for notifying paddlers would be through the ACC or canoe rental companies. I don't know of any rental companies on that section of the Illinois, so I'm wondering why the ACC wasn't contacted for input, especially since ACC members are no doubt the most frequent users of the site. Did the ACC send in comments on the 404 Permit application for the project? I don't remember seeing any posts asking for comments.

Mike Coogan, alias Captain Aleve

[okieboater]

Having worked on, made presentations and begged for money for a white water park on the Arkansas in Tulsa for decades - if some funding entity showed up with the money, used a generally accepted national recognized designer and local trades to build a WW park including all the boat load of required permits and did the construction is a really short time frame plus having a kick off party on the site for local boaters to see what was planned just before construction plus finding a local boater (AKA PaddleDog) to post updates for local paddlers ------ I would be dancing (well attempting to dance) in the street, giving thanks to anyone and every one involved and for sure would get out of the way for the construction crew as they worked on the project.

Like many of you, over decades, I spent a lot of time at Fisher Ford tuning my skills, helping others and wishing the spot could be secured for public access. It has been a jewel in the rough and from looking at the drawings is going to be really nice setup.

What is going on now is a dream come true for me and I bet many others feel the same.

For now, I am staying home out of the way. I will line up to see the finished site when invited, till then Paddle Dog's excellent photos and posts are all I need.

[tomOzarkVideo]

Runnels has been in contact with the firm and POs since inception.. We (ACC) are being well represented and well notified every step of the way.

Stay tuned, It's going to be great.

[CAPTAIN ALEVE]

Great! Good to have at least one paddler involved and representing the 1000+ members of the ACC, even if incognito. I hope other projects work as efficiently as this one has, becoming reality in an equally short period of time (assuming it was short). There are lots more places where whitewater features can be built in Arkansas; Fisher Ford can serve as a guide for getting more projects built.

Mike Coogan, alias Captain Aleve

[Ben Rodda]

So fired up over the sense of optimism and the hard work that is put in. I agree the fast pace is more than likely a really good thing. The nature of my post really is not to rain on that at all. Only to run ahead and make sure the potential for failure is mitigated as fully as possible. Keep up the good work. I am sure its going to be awesome.

[paddledog]

Of course the river can't be closed to public traffic, so people floating or fishing will be allowed to pass through the work site.

You should be able to float close enough to the construction to remain safe and still take some photos.

Do you suppose that any city and landowner could modify rapids in a river passing through their jurisdiction or property without notifying the paddling community? Pretty much the only choice for notifying paddlers would be through the ACC or canoe rental companies. I don't know of any rental companies on that section of the Illinois, so I'm wondering why the ACC wasn't contacted for input, especially since ACC members are no doubt the most frequent users of the site. Did the ACC send in comments on the 404 Permit application for the project? I don't remember seeing any posts asking for comments.
Mike Coogan, alias Captain Aleve

You can't stop water from flowing. Why push the issue. Are you gonna change what they are doing? Many paddlers and the surrounding land owners have been consulted and are working with the park designers. Just because you weren't asked your opinion doesn't mean the it is a one man show. I will be posting pics from the site to keep the community updated on progress. This keeps interruptions to a minimum.

To point out how little you know of the situation, there is and has been an outfitter there and will continue to use the access as launch point. And yes the ACC ACA and all others that were paying attention have been consulted and asked their opinion. Why did you wait until the ground breaking to throw your sabot into the machinery?

[paddledog]

Here are pics from yesterday.
These are the stones for the bank stabilization.

The rain from last weekend has delayed construction.
It wasn't the river level as much as the swamp it created on land that affected the schedule.
River work will start first of next week.