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Kishwaukee Stream Barb Project


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I will be in town and I will come by to check things out at 8:00. I do need to be someplace at 11:00 (main reason for being in town) so I think I'll have to flip the coin... breakfast after or have Terry point me to those deep holes ;)

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The first attempt at this get-together was for a later time so I just wanted to be sure that we were stickong with the 8:00 am time slot.

As far as those deep holes, now keep in mind this is the Kishwaukee we're talking about, I'll let you know Saturday morning.tongue.gif

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Yep...8:00 at the gate to Distillery Rd park. Don't forget to bring your camera. Anyone else going to be joining us? Right now it looks like Terry, Kevin and me. I think I'll pass on the fishing afterwards. (But I'll bring my gear just in case I can't control myself.)

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I'm trying to work it out to be there, but I probably won't know until tomorrow evening. I have Kevin's number and will give him a call Saturday morning early to let him know whether or not I am on my way. I will bring a camera to take pictures and I'm interested to see the how the project effects the river.

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Had a very interesting morning meeting with Dan Kane and Josh Sage (yes, his name is Josh Sage, and yes he flyfishes) of the Boone County Conservation District. As I pulled down the entrance drive, I was followed by a car with municipal plates. I was right in assuming that it was Dan, and we pulled up next to Tim U in the parking area. Shortly after, Kevin D pulled up. It was about five 'til 8, so we waited for the Terry "The Dancin'Swami" Dodge. At about five after 8, we decided to walk back to the river. I was surprised at the Swami. He really didn't seem the type to say he was going to be somewhere and then blow it off. Oh well.

 

As we turned to walk back to the site, sure enough, Josh Sage and The Swami were walking our way from the river. Turns out my assessment of Terry was correct. He had been the first to arrive and had parked down by the canoe launch. I didn't ask if he and Josh had been dancing.

 

First we looked at the four barbs which were recently installed downstream of our site. The outside bend we were standing on used to be about fifty feet farther into the river. The constantly fluctuating level of the last four years has really wreaked havoc on this bend, and these barbs are really going to make a difference. Dan explained the theory behind the hydraulic engineering of the barbs. We were all extremely impressed with Dan's knowledge and passion. This isn't just dumping a bunch of rip-rap on the bank. This is an engineered series of structures that depend on each other to keep the heaviest flow in the middle of the river. Each barb consisted of 6-7 semi loads of RR5 rip-rap installed under the supervision of Wayne Kinney, a stream specialist consultant from downstate. The original contract documents called for three barbs, but the low bid was so far under the engineers estimate, they were able to add a fourth barb in a change order.

 

We then moved upstream to take a look at our site. This area is a perfect example of an outside bend that just keeps on eroding, and it is also very easily accessible. Because of this, Dan intends to use the site as a sort of an example/how to/show and tell in the future. The four barb locations were already staked, so construction will be able to start as soon as the contract is awarded. The bid opening is on December 8th, and the contract should get BCCD approval on the 17th, so the soonest possible start is December 18th.

 

Dan and Josh both seemed very grateful for our help, and I let them know that the ISA would love to help with future projects, not only monetarily through our grant program, but with labor if needed on future projects.

 

For those who don't know, I insist on a greasy breakfast either before or after any ISA outing, so Kevin, Swami, Tim and I headed across the street to warm up and fill up at Ned's. Tim and Swami took pictures, and hopefully they'll post some shots here.

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KishStreamBarbDownStream112010.jpg

Looking Downstream

The blue arrow shows the main current of the river being deflected by the barbs back towards the main channel and away from the eroding bank. Each individual barb is set at a specific angle deflecting the flow towards the next barb.

 

The red arrow shows the backwash area created behind each barb, this is a low current area that will eventually fill in with silt further securing the bank and preventing the barb from being washed out from the backside.

 

KishStreamBarbUpstream112010.jpg

Looking Upstream

Again the blue arrow shows the current being deflected away from the bank.

 

The red rectangle shows the backwash area that has already been filled in with silt. I didn't catch how long ago this project was completed, but I believe it was sometime this year, so it doesn't take long for the changes to begin.

 

KishProposedStreamBarb112010.jpg

Looking Upstream on the proposed area

The orange lines represent where the 4 stream barbs will be on this extremely eroded outside bend which is only a few hundred feet upstream from the project that is already completed.

 

All in all it was a very interesting presentation. Dan and Josh seem passionate about the project and very grateful for the ISA's support. It was also nice to put faces to a few more ISA members that prior to this were only names on the message board.

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Great report and pictures. I was very impressed with the knowledge and care that both Dan and Josh have for the jobs they do

and also for the river. Like Jude said....."It's not just dumping a bunch of rip-rap on the bank."

 

I won't bore you with a bunch of the same pictures that Tim has already put up (great job Tim) but would like to just point out here in this pic

the chunks of ground still breaking off of the undercut laying on the edge of the steep embankment........

 

 

 

Then here is a shot looking down stream from the furthest upstream point of the ISA barbs. huh.gif

(Did that make any sense?)

 

 

 

And then for your enjoyment..........

 

 

More pics if you would like......(I lied smile.gif )

 

 

 

I do plan on returning to this area to take more pictures as the work is being done and then again when the work is complete.

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It was nice to meet you guys in person. Glad I had to be Rockford for the day.

 

It was a very informative little session. I was reminded (read it somewhere several times) that the native grasses root systems go down 15 feet or so. This keeps the soil a lot more porous allowing water to really seep into the ground instead of flowing across the land into straight into the river lessening those flash rises in the river which helps lessen erosion. Dan also mentioned that a nearby subdivision allowed them to utilize a different method for the storm water run off. I believe the end point for the pipe was a bermed (sp) culdesac which allowed to the water to slowly diffuse instead of dumping right into the river and that it also was also set pretty far back from the river.

 

It's great to see these small projects getting done and that some people are are open to different ways of doing things. Hopefully it catches on...

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  • 1 month later...

The good news is that the bids came in under the engineer's estimate. The estimate was 71,500, and the low bid was 64,000 by a contractor out of Wisconsin. In a normal economy, that would be the end of discussion and no one would complain. These days, contractors and unions are fighting over crumbs, so an Illinois contractor with a bid of 67,800 has threatened to sue, claiming Illinois public money should go to Illinois contractors. And of course, the Wisconsin contractor will probably sue if he's not awarded the contract with the lowest bid. The Board will hash it out at its January meeting.

 

In the meantime, the Boone County Conservation District will be giving a Power Point presentation regarding the project at our next meeting, which will be at Gander Mountain in Rockford on January 14 from 7:00 'til 9:00. These guys really know their stuff, so it would be worth the trip for some of you City Boys. Plus, Paul has promised us pizza!

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  • 1 month later...

BREAKING NEWS

 

I just received word from a close friend of mine who does work for the BCCD that Josh Sage of the BCCD just

phoned him and and told him to notify me that, on this day Saturday Jan. 30 @ 12:00pm, the equipment is pulling out and the

barbs are in and ready for inspection.

I may head out in a bit to snap some pictures.

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Just to jog your memory.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just got these off the BCCD Facebook page..........

 

 

 

The men behind the BCCD/ISA Stream Barbs.....

( left to right)

 

Dan Kane - Executive Director

Wayne Kinney - Stream Specialist

Josh Sage - Restoration Projects Mgr.

 

 

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Nice! That rock makes me drool. I'm imagining a chug bug twitched right at the point of each barb. Thanks for taking and posting the pictures, Swami!

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Guest rich mc

i like the way they keyed in the barbs on photo 7 . really enjoyed the the last meeting when they explained the project. awesome project,,, makes me want to dance rich

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  • 2 weeks later...

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