Specialty Construction Award of Merit: Blue River Restoration

The team diverted the river so that it could work on dry land. Then crews rebuilt the channel, complete with river rock and erosion controls.

Photo courtesy of ESCO Construction

Blue River Restoration
Breckenridge, Colo.
Award of Merit

Owner: Town of Breckenridge
Lead Design Firm: Tetra Tech
General Contractor: ESCO Construction Co.
Subcontractors: CDI Environmental Contractor; Simbeck & Associates Inc.

Gold mining at the Blue River at Breckenridge during the first half of the 1900s greatly destabilized the river banks. Starting in July 2016 after the snowfall runoff, the contractor and its subs worked 12-hour days, six days a week to reconstruct a half-mile segment of the river. The project involved nearly 72,000 cu yd of grading, 24,000 sq yd of PVC liner, 43,000 cu yd of screened and processed river aggregates and 36,000 sq yd of erosion-control blanket.

The first task was diverting the river so the team could work on dry land. Then crews rebuilt the channel, complete with river rock and erosion controls. Machinery was checked daily to keep it from contaminating the new riverbed. In the end, the three-month project finished four days ahead of schedule. The contractor credits much of the project’s timeliness to the “dynamic and flexible” approach of the municipal staff from the town of Breckenridge.