Moscow Chamber of Commerce issued the following announcement on Sept. 4.
Huntington Park, adjacent to Monroe Street Dam in downtown Spokane, will be closed Monday, Sept. 10, while a crane that will be used in rock relocation work is assembled. The park will reopen the same day after the crane has been assembled and the work area is secured to protect the public.
The crane will be used to relocate large amounts of cobble and gravel that have accumulated upstream of the dam and place it back into the river below the dam. Approximately every other year, or as necessary, Avista moves the rocks, in accordance with federal and state permits, which can damage the intake structure and interfere with power production. The project is expected to take two weeks. Once the work is complete the park will need to be closed again in order to dis-assemble the crane.
“Public safety and protecting the surrounding environment are Avista’s top priorities as we do this work,” said Speed Fitzhugh, Spokane River License Manager for Avista. “Redistributing the materials back into the river will allow them to continue to serve as a potential gravel source for trout spawning habitat in the Spokane River system.”
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