The City of Bartlesville has teamed up with local company KSL Dirtworks for a creative solution to help make a portion of the city’s paved trail system safer.
A small portion of Pathfinder Parkway — located behind Bartlesville Ready Mix on Tuxedo Boulevard, just west of the Caney River — has been closed to accommodate a riverbank stabilization project currently underway in the area.
The path, which is part of the Pathfinder Parkway trail system, is closed while stabilization work continues due to erosion of the riverbank on the west side of the river, according to Director of Engineering Micah Siemers.
“Drainage across the path has eroded the bank, causing the bank to collapse in some places and creating hazardous conditions for anyone using the trail,” Siemers said.
The City’s Parks and Recreation Department put up barricades to protect users of the path temporarily “until we could come up with a solution to stabilize the riverbank and possibly realign a portion of the path,” Siemers said.
A creative solution presented itself when the City teamed up with KSL Dirtworks, a local company that is currently working to restore the ConocoPhillips/Phillips 66 Plaza, located next to City Hall on Johnstone Avenue.
“The City contacted KSL Dirtworks to see if they would be willing to haul the concrete spoils from their Phillips 66/ConocoPhillips project, located at the plaza between City Hall and the Plaza Office Building, and use (it) to armor the riverbank,” Siemers said.
KSL Dirtworks also volunteered the use of the company’s larger track mounted equipment to prepare the riverbank for the concrete application.
“The Street Department has cleared a path through the trees from the Bartlesville Ready Mix plant to the path and riverbank in preparation for the construction activities and will be involved at times during the project as needed,” Siemers said.
“Bartlesville Ready Mix has worked with the City to allow access to the site and has been great to work with as well. It really has been a joint effort from contractors in the community and City staff,” he said.
Eventually, the path will likely need to be realigned and some additional culvert and drainage work completed once the bank is stabilized, assuming funding is identified, Siemers said.
“The stabilization currently underway will ‘buy some time’ until these repairs can be made,” he said.
“This project will likely be an ongoing effort as more concrete material is identified from both public and private projects in town.”
It is anticipated this portion of the path will be closed for several weeks. However, work in the area will stop and the path will be opened to accommodate the “Run the Lights 5k” run on Nov. 28. Work will resume the following week.
