The Big News:
The bridge wreck is now GONE. Thomas O'Keefe's report from the planning
stages of the removal propsal meeting sums up the process that led to the
removal:
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From: Thomas O'Keefe
Sent: Thu 5/1/2003 11:07 PM
To: 'Chris Joosse'; 'Nick Newhall'
Cc: 'Jennie Goldberg'; 'Steve Exe'; 'Scott Collins'; 'Jason Robertson'
Subject: Bridge Drop on the Cascade
Well I was able to zoom up to Mt. Vernon this morning and provide the kayaker
perspective for the Bridge Debris removal project on the Cascade. It turns out
that this project is one of Skagit County's main priorities within their road
department (it was a County bridge--a little trivia is the steel beams were
salvaged from the first Tacoma Narrows Bridge). The meeting that was held today
was a review committee meeting for all watershed projects applying for Forest
Service funding and included things from this one, to other road projects, to
educational initiatives. This was the only project submitted by Skagit County
and it is their priority. Each project before the committee had 15 minutes to
present their case with time for questions by committee members. The Forest
Service received 23 project proposals requesting a total of $1.28 million and
they expect to have around $604,000 available for projects (a lot depends on
what happens with the fire season and how the Administration responds). 50% of
the funds have to be spent on road maintenance & decommissioning and restoration
of streams & watersheds per the legislation.
We'll see if they realize what they're getting into but the effort Nick and
Chris put into documenting everything on the website played a major role (nice
work!--folks at the County took you seriously). They repackaged that into a full
color report that formed the basis for their proposal.
My impression from the questions asked by the review committee was that they
were a little skeptical of this project. The budget is $160,000 which they
thought was way too much (note that's a big chunk of the total money available).
Various "experts" on the committee with logging experience felt it could be
easily done when a logging helicopter is in the area for much cheaper (I told
them that Nick had already looked into this). The County proposal is to set up a
static cable across the canyon and lift the pieces of the bridge up as in a
logging operation (a logging contractor was out on site and said he could do it
for about $90,000 but the County padded that a bit for unexpected
contingencies). They would have to cut up the bridge and they have considered
explosive charges or cutting tools that could be used in the water. My general
feeling is they might not be all that successful in getting all the funding they
need through this route but it all seems very political and there were various
backdoor efforts underway to influence specific committee members. It did seem
likely they will get something. The committee however seemed much more
interested in road projects that benefit salmon so this one is a little outside
the realm of what they normally fund. That being said, the County engineer said
they have decided this is a top priority and although they would like to start
work this year if everything comes together they are prepared to spend a few
years and will seek funding from other sources as necessary. A consultant has
been hired to further pursue the options and secure the needed funding.
I mentioned Nick's suggestion of trying to mitigate the hazard through a rock
dam if they couldn't pull the bridge out. They seemed less interested in this
because removing debris from a Wild and Scenic River seemed to be as important
as addressing the safety issues (which actually receive less weight in this
particular competition given the focus on watershed restoration--the point was
even raised that if this was a safety project then this was not the appropriate
funding source). One other thing is I think we all need to be a little bit
careful in how hard we press the safety issue when discussing this with agency
folks. I don't think it will come to this but I have heard rumors that if the FS
thinks the river is too dangerous they could attempt to close it to recreation.
Well good work in raising the issue and we'll see what happens. I told Janice
and Barb from Skagit County that members from the WKC would be available to
provide feedback as the proposal evolves.
--
Thomas C. O'Keefe
AW Regional Coordinator
3537 NE 87th St.
Seattle, WA 98115
(w) 206-543-1567, (h) 206-527-7947, (cell) 425-417-9012
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The Recommendations:
This is still a class V rapid. Scout this whole rapid beforehand! - True, it's very long and tough to
walk the banks of this stretch, but if you don't know what's around the next two
corners, it'll be incredibly difficult to perform an effective rescue or
self-rescue. Consider hiking down from the existing bridge to take a look
before putting on.
Set overlapping safety! - At least one accident here occurred where safety
consisted of one paddler onshore without a rope and one getting out of his boat
in order to throw his rope. By the time the rope was ready to throw, the
victim had washed out of rope range and then both rescuers had to get into their
boats in order to give chase.
Use your best judgment. - Starts With A Bang is an aptly-named rapid.
If you're not warmed up, understand that a swim near the top means you face
nearly a quarter-mile of on-your-own swimming, with unknown hazards if your safety doesn't clean you up smartly. We
don't know how everyone who's died in this drop died- part of each story was
that the would-be rescuers lost sight of the victim. Be careful.
This is an excellent river, a beautiful set of rapids, drops that I have run
before and will run again. At high flows it's intense and potentially
dangerous, very solidly class V.