Published: August 23, 2009 11:31 pm      

River debris getting cleared

ASHLAND — The mysterious obstruction below the Ohio River that temporarily halted construction on Ashland’s Veterans Riverfront Park appears to be in part a steel-reinforced concrete wall, according to officials.

City Engineer Ryan Eastwood said Friday that workers were having some success removing the object from the river. He said the obstruction may not be as costly or as time consuming to remove as previously thought.

“They are pulling all kinds of stuff out of that river,” Eastwood said. “They took that, quote ‘big hammer,’ and they have been banging the heck out of this thing and breaking it up. We know a lot of it is a concrete wall with a lot of reinforcing steel in it,” he said.

A team of Ashland Fire Department divers will be on site Monday to examine the remaining obstruction, Eastwood said. The next course of action will be determined by what they find below the water, he said.

The Ashland Board of City Commissioners approved a request Thursday by Eastwood to spend up to $50,000 probing the river bottom to find the location and extent of the obstruction and then break it up.

The obstruction was discovered late last week when workers were unable to drive steel beams into the riverbed. Workers first tried unsuccessfully to pierce through the object with a sharpened beams.

The find shut down work driving the steel pilings needed to form the Riverfront Park’s essential riverwall. The massive retaining wall is being constructed in order to reclaim up to 110 feet of land now underwater and is needed to reduce the steep grade of the current park.

The first phase of the wall includes 16 separate cells — each approximately 30 feet across. Approximately half the cells had been completed when workers hit the obstruction located in cells nine and 10, according to Eastwood.

The riverwall will also serve as a walkway, boat ramp and dock.

CARRIE STAMBAUGH can be reached at cstambaugh@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.