After years of hard work to bring a whitewater park to Franklin, New Hampshire, paddlers were no doubt excited to see construction begin on the Mill City Park whitewater park this summer.
But, in July, that excitement was replaced by frustration and the need for patience.
On July 2, the project’s contractor, Coleman Construction, was forced to leave the whitewater park job site because of the flow of the river and the height of nearby Lake Winnipesaukee.
At the time, the area had received about 12 inches of rain. But, the wettest summer in recent memory would ultimately bring close to 20 inches of rain to the area, keeping the lake high. So high in fact, that for part of the summer Lake Winnipesaukee was the highest it’s been in 40 years.
But after waiting out the wet conditions, Coleman again began work on the whitewater park on September 10.
Recently, an article in the Concord Monitor examined the progress construction crews have been making.
Cranes have been driving metal plates into the river bed recently to temporarily divert the flow of the water in order to create new paddling features, some of the first in-water work at Mill City Park.