That reconstruction project on the North Canadian River banks where it passed under Midwest Boulevard is just about finished. It’s nowhere near as interesting because the results are just a bit disappointing. I can see why they put up the barbed-wire fence with all the expensive planting, turfing and so forth, but it keeps people out. The river is supposed to be a recreation area.
The fence also made it difficult to get any good shooting angles. That first image is standing at the maintenance gate looking out over the newly planted trees and shrubs, with the river almost hidden from view in the middle ground.
This second image shows the finished work on that curve coming around toward the bridge; this is viewing upriver. This was where the majority of the heavy earth-moving took place when I first spotted the construction activity more than a year ago. The massive layer of boulders is now hidden under green cover.
The south bank was where the biggest washout occurred, and you can see where they are filling it all back in behind the reconstructed bank. This is where I came out on that epic mountain bike ride through the muddy back trails. In the background is a ligh-colored sandy trail where I emerged from the woods. Just to the left of that was the path of the temporary flood from a lake back a ways up in the grassland. That artificial lake breached it’s own dam and created a temporary creek that prevented me coming on out, so I had to go all the way back through the muddy crap the way I came, about 1.5 miles.
Now you can see the fresh red soil coloring where the crew is restoring the original bank and it will completely block that flow from recurring, even if the land owners up that little wash don’t fix their lake breach. But with all this artificial reconstruction and window dressing, about the only thing left of any interest visually is this shot of the woodline on the far bank through which that muddy path travels. Here is the far bank in her summer dress.
Beautiful!