The Swan River Restoration Project is closing out on its extraction phase and moving into the restoration phase, which is expected to be completed next year. Some neighbors of the project site will be glad to hear that the mining piece of the project is done.
Jason Lederer of Summit County Open Space & Trails explained that gravel crushing activities have been completed by the county’s gravel removal contractor, Schofield Excavation, and all that’s left to do in the way of gravel is to finish removing it. This will involve hauling the stockpiles from the site with loading trucks, so there will still be some heavy machinery operating around the site until the gravel is fully removed.
“That big effort is wrapped up for the most part except for that residual material out there,” Lederer said.
The gravel material that has been mined has gone toward local highway and construction projects. Levi Schofield, president of Schofield Excavation, said the project has provided material for roads in Silverthorne’s Smith Ranch neighborhood, the Ski Hill Road project in Breckenridge, both phases of the CDOT road project that went from Dillon to Breckenridge, and numerous houses and smaller subdivisions.
Now, Lederer said the design team is planning the restoration to be completed during the next building season. The project includes two reaches and is meant to restore the Upper Swan River Valley from past dredge mining operations and reconnect the three main tributaries of the Upper Snake River Valley. It will eventually restore 12,200 lineal feet of the stream channel.
