County Road 43 River and Road Restoration

This cost-effective stream restoration project encompassed 17,500 linear feet of the North Fork of the Big Thompson River.

In September 2013, the Colorado Front Range experienced a large flood event that ravaged rivers, communities, and infrastructure, damaging and destroying large sections of highways, local roads, and public, residential, and commercial properties. Larimer County Road 43 (CR 43) was heavily damaged as a result of flooding and erosion. River restoration activities were conducted along most of the North Fork of the Big Thompson River where the river runs adjacent to the roadway.

Channel reconstruction activities were cost-effective due to collaboration between entities; materials, equipment, manpower, and expertise were leveraged from the highway reconstruction efforts in order to restore the river channel for the benefit of both the river and roadway. Strategic placement of boulders, rock structures, and large wood was used in a comprehensive and holistic approach to the rehabilitation of the channel and its floodplain, in a coherent, consistent restoration project.

This river restoration project was designed and built around restoring river processes, not just river form. The features that were built are intended to encourage long-term system stability by providing a framework within which natural sediment movement and ecosystem processes can dominate. The river, and low-flow channel in particular, is expected to move and adjust; the river system is expected to recruit woody vegetation and woody debris; and the bankfull channel is expected to scour and form new deposits as it adjusts to varying flow and sediment loading cycles in the coming years and decades.

PROJECT GOALS

  • ROADWAY PROTECTION AND RESILIENCY

  • FLOOD HAZARD REDUCTION

  • AQUATIC AND RIPARIAN HABITAT ENHANCEMENT

“This reach is looking outstanding! Cascades and pools are functioning really well and the campsite seems to be thriving again...Thank you for bringing this project to life and making it successful. Job well done! ”

— Joe Juergensen, Project Manager

Contact us to see how we can help you with your watershed.

Stream Management, Flood Recovery, Disaster Response, Design and EngineeringKatie Jagt