WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Portions of the Mill Creek Trail near Rooks Park and the Mill Creek Dam will be temporarily closed to visitors starting today through early April, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials.
The temporary trail closure is necessary to ensure visitor safety while work occurs to install a toe-drain system to monitor, evaluate and manage possible seepage water through the diversion dike at Mill Creek. This will involve digging a ditch; installing pipe and rock to collect the water, manholes to provide worker access to evaluate and maintain the system, and an outflow pipe that will deposit seepage water into ponds in Rooks Park.
This project is part of the Corps’ ongoing Dam Safety Program. The diversion dike was evaluated under the program and it was recommended that installation of a toe drain along the diversion dike should be installed as a risk-reduction measure. The work project was awarded to Eagle River Development LLC, of Spokane, Wash., on Sept. 28, 2010, with a contract value of $408,567.58.
Although Rooks Park remains seasonally closed to vehicles until April 1, pedestrians and bicyclists will be able to access the park from the Mill Creek Trail near the western-most side of the park – parking is available at the Mill Creek Project office or at Bennington Lake. The foot bridge crossing Mill Creek just downstream of the dam will remain accessible. Visitors should also be aware of construction vehicles and trucks entering and exiting the work site near the entrance to Rooks Park. This additional traffic will continue throughout the work period.
A graphic-map of the construction area is available online at www.nww.usace.army.mil/html/offices/pa/NR/NR11_files/NR11-18map.jpg.
For more information about this project or for general information about Mill Creek Dam and Bennington Lake, call the Mill Creek office at (509) 527-7160.
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Release no. 11-18