Manchester whitewater course construction well underway

MANCHESTER - Construction is well underway here on what promises to be the state's premiere white-water course.

As many as six excavators, as well as bulldozers and other heavy construction equipment, have been engaged since September in transforming what had been the dammed up Maquoketa River into a series of rocky plunges through the heart of this Delaware County city.

The $1.8 million project is 'on time and on target,” with paddlers expected to be able to run the 900-foot course by next spring, said City Manager Tim Vick.

Aided by seasonally low river flows, employees of Taylor Construction of New Vienna 'are making hay while the weather is good,” said Jack Klaus, executive director of the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce.

While work has proceeded rapidly on the east side of the river, the adjoining structures on the west side remain to be constructed, he said.

Taylor's $1.45 million bid for the in-river construction exceeded the engineer's estimate by $282,000, leaving less available funding for the land-based parts of the project - public restrooms, bank restoration and terracing, improved access points and development of spectator locations - which won't be finished until next summer, Vick said.

The curved course will include six 18-inch drop features - three more than the state's first and most popular white-water course, which opened in 2011 on the Cedar River at Charles City, The Gobbler, completed last year on the Turkey River at Elkader, consists of a single feature with two distinct channels separated by a midstream island.

Ryan Wicks, a leader of the Good to Great committee that envisioned Manchester's park, said plans are being formulated to partner with Charles City and Elkader in efforts to market northeast Iowa as a regional destination for paddle sport enthusiasts.

With white-water courses on three different rivers in separate watersheds, at least one river should have suitable water levels and flows after most rainfall events, he said.

'We're hoping out-of-state paddlers will come and make a week out of it,” he said.

Besides appealing to paddlers, the re-engineered river is expected to improve angling success, Vick said.

The removal of the 9-foot dam eliminates an obstacle to fish movement, and each of the six drops will be complemented by recovery pools that will provide ideal habitat for fish and other aquatic life, while providing calm waters for paddlers who get buffeted off course by the current, he said.