Marina nears completion
Marina nears completion
By STU MERRY
The interior work on the new marina under construction at Fort Stevenson State Park on the Garrison Dam reservoir will be completed this week, according to officials with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“We’re almost there,” exclaimed Loren Nishek, project engineer, as he looked over the project Monday afternoon.
The contract to complete the interior work included the excavation of the bottom of the basin and the riprap of the interior banks. Crews began hauling riprap from a Knife River Construction pit near Mandan Feb. 6, concluding Feb. 25. Nishek said 14,000 tons of Type B (12-inch size) rock was hauled.
The base of the marina is 1790 mean sea level (msl), which has now been attained. The depth of the opening to the marina will be 1800 mean sea level (msl) instead of 1790 as was originally planned, Nishek said. What remains is excavating up to the cofferdam as the time to start putting water in the basin draws ever so closer. Nishek said the remaining material and material from the cofferdam is being hauled to the stockpile area north of the marina.
Nishek went on to say plans are to shut down the de-watering pump this week that has been pumping seep water from the marina basin since the marina project began. No timeline or process has been established as to how water will be pumped into the basin.
The firms of Weston Solutions of West Chester, Pa., and Earthmovers/Strata of Minot are doing the work. In addition, the cofferdam is being lowered five feet, from an elevation of 1830 msl to 1825 msl in preparation for its complete removal.
“The crews have done a wonderful job under some dreadful weather conditions. There has been a lot of snow and extreme cold,” said Steve Graf, project manager for the Corps. “We are really impressed, and pleased.”
