Granger was selected to perform General Contracting services for the Flint River Restoration project. This project aims to improve the overall city of Flint starting with improving parks and recreation for the community.
The project includes naturalizing the Flint River through downtown Flint with multiple rock rapids areas within the main channel, trail improvements and riverbank improvements.
This river work includes removing what remains of the Hamilton Dam structure and creating a new in-river structure that will manage the river’s water in the absence of dams previously removed.
The new in-river structure will consist of six “riffles,” or clusters of rocks designed to mimic naturally occurring in-river structures, and will be placed at strategic locations within the river. This is intended to maximize the effect of in-river restoration work on the natural habitat, including benefits to fish and other aquatic species.
The work requires getting crews and equipment into the water and cutting half of the flow of the river off at a time to construct the riffles. Granger will use an inflatable coffer dam to manage the water flow during construction, which is less intrusive than the traditional sheet pile method for dewatering work space.
Work must be planned around high flow periods (spring), fish species spawning seasons, dam draw-down restrictions and always being prepared for unexpected heavy rain events.
Granger was hired for this project based on its ability and reputable experience delivering projects that involve fluctuating water levels, dewatering solutions, sediment debris removal and contamination concerns.