Courier View Pikes Peak
Pikes Peak 9-4-2013
September 4, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
Teller County, Colorado • Volume 52, Issue 36
ourtellercountynews.com
City starts traffic study Fountain Creek projects in the works By Pat Hill
phill@ourcoloradonews.com
Mallett Excavating in Woodland Park is doing multiple mitigation projects in the Ute Pass area. With the Rapid Installment Barrier System, RIBS, technology, the barrier bags are proven to be more effective than regular sand bags. Last week, Rick Mallett, left, and his son, Travis Mallett, installed the barrier system at the Alpine Autism Center in Mountain Shadows in Colorado Springs. Photos by Pat Hill
RIBS installed by Mallett Excavating Woodland Park company at the forefront of mitigation
Traffic continues on Page 4
FEMA funded project slated
By Pat Hill
phill@ourcoloradonews.com In the race to halt the energy of water in the Ute Pass area, a new system employs technology as a barrier to the flow. Developed by scientists at Colorado State University, the Rapid Installation Barrier System stops sediment in its tracks while diminishing the power of water. Besieged this summer with unpredictable weather patterns, people threatened by deluge are fighting back with RIBS. Introduced by Landmark Earth Solutions, Inc., the systems are installed by Mallett Excavating of Woodland Park. Last week, the Malletts, Rick, Anne and their sons Travis and Adam, installed the system at the Alpine Autism Center. The center is in the direct path of water flowing from the burn scar on the Flying W Ranch property in Mountain Shadows. “In a big storm water still comes down
As Woodland Park grows and the number of cars increases, the city has initiated a transportation study to look at traffic and travel patterns. “This is all a spinoff from our comprehensive plan,” said Bill Alspach, the city’s public works director. The plan, finalized in 2010, put the spotlight on residents’ concerns about traffic and the resulting issues. However, Alspach emphasizes that the transportation study is not designed to propose solutions but to identify key issues in Woodland Park and the surrounding area.
Mallett Excavating of Woodland Park is making waves recently with their installation of the RIBS system in places vulnerable to flooding in the Waldo Canyon burn-scar areas. The RIBS technology was developed at the Hydraulics Lab at Colorado State University and introduced by Landmark Earth Solutions, whose president is Bart Daniel. Pictured, from left, Daniel and the Mallett family, Rick, Travis and Anne. but the system blocks the sediment,” Rick Mallett said. To view the system in action, Landmark’s president, Bart Daniel, flew in from
Mallett Excavating of Woodland Park installed the RIBS barrier system at the Ute Pass Library and the adjacent Cascade Fire Department. The technology was developed and introduced by Landmark Earth Solutions, Inc.. whose president, Bart Daniel, was in the area last week. POSTAL ADDRESS
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the company manufacturing plant in Kennesaw, Ga. For the past several months, Daniel has worked with the Malletts, the Natural Resource Conservation District and the Coalition for the Upper South Platte. “We do contracting through Bart’s company with CUSP,” Rick Mallett said. “CUSP is interested in protecting structures.” Unlike sandbags, RIBS are filled with native materials, sand and decomposed granite. “You don’t have to haul in fill material,” Anne Mallett said. The barriers are impervious to the damaging effects of the sun’s ultraviolet rays as well as wind, rain and hail. In heights of 2, 4 and 6 feet, the barriers, of reinforced polypropylene fabric, are sealed tighter than sandbags as a result of a trapezoidal design that resists water flow. Several homeowners in Chipita Park purchased the barrier bags before the rainstorm of Aug. 22 when Fountain Creek came roaring through the area. “The work we had done with CUSP saved the homes that had the barriers,” said Rick Mallett. “We felt pretty good about that.” In addition to homes in Chipita Park, the Malletts installed the RIBS system at the Ute Pass Library and the adjacent Cascade Fire Department. The project was funded by a grant awarded to the fire protection district. For more information, call Mallett Excavating at 687-6920.
Because water flows downhill, Fountain Creek in Woodland Park is the culprit when it comes to flooding in Green Mountain Falls, Chipita Park, Cascade and Manitou Springs. As a result, the city of Woodland Park is doing the mea culpa with public works projects that reflect the good neighbor approach. “We have the east-fork project under construction,” said Bill Alspach, the city’s public works director. The project to halt the damaging runoff from the creek is from McDonalds to Woodland Park High School is being built by Purgatory Valley Construction, Alspach said. A $2 million project funded by FEMA has been halted by bureaucracy. “We’ve been waiting and waiting for environmental permits to be issued,” Alspach said. “We’ve selected a contractor and we’re ready to start working on the construction on Sheridan Street behind Safeway.” The rainstorm of Aug. 22 was unexpected. “If we had these projects done a year ago, had gotten the environmental permits we wouldn’t have had the problems we had on Thursday,” Alspach said. The permits come through the state’s Water Quality division to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “But these permits take time,” he said. “We’re getting there, going to start construction and life’s going to be much better in Fountain Creek.” The city of Woodland Park has been working on Fountain Creek projects for years, Alspach said. “We have very strict detention-pond requirements; we’ve got a lot of things completed, underway or coming in the future to make drainage better in Woodland Park.”