I was out at the Sky today, checking out water color, and found the Lewis Street Ramp blocked by the concrete block that used to be by the sign in the middle of the parking lot. I have a call in to find out what is up.

The block is on the better half of the ramp, the one that sleds are going to want to use. You can get around it on the west side, but that puts you over on the sandy side.

I'll post what the dept tells me if and when they call. The person who took my call did not know of any planned closure, and if they were intending to close the ramp, seems like they would have blocked both lanes.

The water color, BTW, was pretty murky, about 10 inches of visibility. The Snoqualmie is chocolate. This was about 10:00 this morning, the water is still coming up.

Thanks for the update Let us know.

I think I read somewhere that the bottom half of the ramp was damaged causing damage to trailers. I could be wrong though

There is drop off at the end of the ramp. There are rocks in one slot that will keep you from dropping too bad. I haven't found it to be too much of a problem. The concrete block, on the other hand, is more serious. Still no response from the WDFW.

I talked to the office about the blockage. It's been done by the state. They apparently were concerned about some rebar sticking out at the bottom of the ramp that would cause tire damage.

They have plans to repair/enhance the ramp next spring, when the water drops. Apparently there wasn't money to do that this year.

I think the ramp could be temporarily fixed with the addition of about 50 bucks worth of concrete tiles and a little mortar. I am going to contact the person in charge of the access area and see if they would be agreeable to a few private citizens undertaking a temporary repair. I'll post the results of that conversation when it happens.

silver, contact me if the volunteer thing comes to light, I'm off work now and have lots of experience working with mortor,concrete,etc

Be careful repairs to the ramp will require the minimum of City or County Shoreline Exemption Permit.

WDFW may have already missed their own regulatory fish window to do the work. The ability to do in- stream work (ramp repair) more than likely will not open up again till July.

BD

BD, thanks for the comment. That clears up one of the comments significantly.

I wonder if we could do some good with a small load of 2 inch crushed rock. Just enough to fill in the gap and hold until then. I'll research.

Best way to approach this beast is (Emergency repair to an existing structure) Beyond that the permit process can be overwelming. Permit process allows for way to much opinion based on alot of best guessing. Emergeny repairs to prevent more damage can open more doors.

I'd contact F&W and see if they can supply an emergency hydraulic permit for the repair. They usually have a person in each area that can do so.

When the Hoh was so low this fall, one of the fellas came out and just wrote out a form on the spot that pretty much allowed anything to go. Now, that's certainly not needed in this case, I don't think it would be too hard to get one for a specific purpose such as this. It might be best to do under on behalf of an organization ...

My 2 cents

I agree the "emergency repair" angle is probably the best shot to get a temporary fix to the ramp.

Most jurisdictions though won't allow a permanent fix, like concrete pouring, under an emergency repair. The pouring off small angular rock to fill in holes should be fine.

Bob's right any repairs will require a WDFW HPA and some type of local shoreline exemption or permit.

I'm heading to the Sky now to go sink a line, will follow up with a report.

BD