S2O Design and Engineering is the design talent behind the world’s most successful whitewater parks. Here is the current whitewater park news from S2O Design.
A Stand Up Paddle Boarder at the Durango Whitewater Park
Check out this article that where the S2o whitewater park is featured in Riverbreak Magazine. Here is an excerpt from the magazine:
2017 Animas River Days: River Surfing Comp
Durango is the place to be today! The surf comp “Animas River Days” (June 1-3) is the third stop in the Colorado Surf Circuit. Standup and shortboard river surfers are competing for cash prizes. The Ponderosa Wave is big and beefy, the surfing should be nothing short of exciting. Tune in to Surf Anywhere’s FB page at 12:45 Mountain Standard Time for the finals. Jacob Kelly will be covering the event live!
S2o is a Denver Area registered Small Business Engineering Firm, S2o Design and Engineering is proud to be a Denver area small business. S2o Design is registered as a small business with the federal government under the Small Business Administration. This is something that we have done because we are proud to employ people in the State of Colorado and United States. S2o is proud of its team of award winning engineers, architects, and planners.
You may take it for granted that your company is a “small business.” The distinction is important if you wish to register for government contracting as a small business. To be a small business, you must adhere to industry size standards established by the U.S. Small Business Administration. As you register as a government contractor in the System for Award Management (SAM), you will also self-certify your business as small.
The SBA, for most industries, defines a “small business” either in terms of the average number of employees over the past 12 months, or average annual receipts over the past three years. In addition, SBA defines a U.S. small business as a concern that:
Is organized for profit
Has a place of business in the US
Operates primarily within the U.S. or makes a significant contribution to the U.S. economy through payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor
Is independently owned and operated
Is not dominant in its field on a national basis
The business may be a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or any other legal form. In determining what constitutes a small business, the definition will vary to reflect industry differences, such as size standards.
Size Standards
Because all federal agencies must use SBA size standards for contracts identified as small business, you need to select NAICS codes that best describe your business and then determine if the business meets size standards for the selected NAICS codes. Use our Size Standards Tool to find out if you qualify as a small business. Once you have determined you are indeed a small business, you can then certify your business as small by registering as a government contractor.
The supply ditch diversion combines fish passage and recreation into a single structure
During the September 2013 flooding every user of the St. Vrain Creek was impacted including agricultural, municipal, commercial, and recreational users. On top of impacts to the users of the St. Vrain the environmental impacts of the flood have been far reaching with the decimation of riparian habitat and severe impacts to the fishery. As the users reconstruct their critical infrastructure there is a new opportunity to create infrastructure that achieves the goals for the owner while also providing benefits for other users and the environment.
S2o is proud to be a part of this process and are implementing a design process that benefits all users and the environment in our projects. The diverse backgrounds of our team members bring expertise in whitewater park design, dam design, and river restoration design that shines in the design of multipurpose projects that benefit many interests. One example of a multipurpose project being implemented on the St. Vrain Creek is the Supply Irrigating Ditch Company diversion structure. Historically, the structure was an at grade concrete dam that was barely noticeable in the creek unless you looked close. During the flood significant erosion occurred downstream of the structure degrading the channel by up to three feet. S2o was hired by the ditch company to design a diversion dam that met their needs and benefited other users of the St. Varin Creek.
The ditch company used a temporary diversion structure for the 2014 irrigation season. The temporary structure was constructed of concrete barriers, concrete rubble, and anything else the ditch company could easily use to get water into their ditch. The temporary structure was not very effective at diverting water and was a significant hazard to any in stream user of the St. Vrain Creek. The hazards created by this temporary structure made the reconstruction of the diversion dam a high priority for safety as well as the ditch company’s need to divert water in 2015.
With this significant amount of degradation an at grade structure was not going to be possible for the rebuilt diversion structure. The first step in the design process was to determine the crest elevation of the structure. The crest elevation of the structure was dictated by the design criteria of being able to divert the allocated water down the ditch inlet. The necessary crest elevation combined with the degradation of the channel lead to an elevation drop of two feet across the structure. To create a structure that would address environmental concerns of fish passage and create a recreational experience a grouted rock ramp structure with a notch for fish passage at low flow was designed. Also, to facilitate fish passage the grouting of the structure will not go to the tops of the rocks allowing paths for fish to swim through the interstitial spaces in the structure. The hydraulic conditions across the grouted rock ramp and in the tail water pool were designed in the same manner as a whitewater park structure. This will allow the water that is not diverted down the ditch inlet to be enjoyed by recreational users. The designed structure will meet all of the project requirements by diverting the allocated water down the ditch, allowing fish passage, and providing recreational opportunities.
This project is a great example of a multipurpose structure that achieves the goals of the owner while also providing for other users. In this case the owner’s agricultural, municipal, and commercial interests are maintained with a structure that benefits recreational users and the environment.
Construction of the structure is scheduled to begin in the near future and the structure will be completed by May 1, 2015. Upon completion a highly visible structure will be in the forefront for multipurpose projects as the St. Vrain and other nearby watersheds recover from the 2013 floods. S2o is leading the way with well-coordinated multipurpose projects.
The diversion structure also creates a fun surfing and tubing wave.
River restoration is a challenge–particularly in an urban environment where the river is highly impacted and the river banks are often highly developed. Project goals and objectives must be carefully stated and project constraints and limitations must be carefully defined and evaluated. S2o has begun work on a $2.5 million restoration of the St. Vrain river following the worst flood in recorded history for this valley. The starting point of this project is the most developed, confined, and, from a design standpoint, challenging, reaches in the river. The goal of the project? To minimize flood impacts and increase resiliency in the river by recreating a healthy river- and eco-system.
What is a healthy river and eco-system: one good way to understand what a healthy, resilient river looks like is to understand what a typical unhealthy river looks like. Fortunately, we have, or had, this type of area in Town located downstream of the 5th Avenue Bridge on the North Fork of the St. Vrain. This area was a great example of a typical urban and highly impacted river before the flood. In this area human development has severely encroached on the river to the point where all of the flow is confined between two steep banks. This was done by landowners literally filling the floodplain with earth to build houses and streets that were positioned right along both sides of the main channel with very little breadth left for expansion during a flood event. In order to handle moderate flooding events the people who built on both sides of the river built higher walls with fill at higher elevations so that more water translated to more depth. This higher depth translated to higher velocities during flood events, and a channel that was largely denuded of habitat or complexity due to scour and excavation. The North St. Vrain in this reach had become a square-bottomed ditch.
By comparison, a healthier river is one in which the river is a complex system with a defined low-flow channel, a defined river channel, some sinuosity, and room to expand into a floodplain. The floodplain is a riparian area that typically includes a wealth of native trees and plants on a low bench near the river. As the river rises, energy is diffused into this area which is important. There are also a variety of species that thrive in this ecosystem and rely on regular flooding. Each of these components plays a role in healthy river function.
In the area downstream of 5th avenue, which is an area that can be viewed in the coming weeks as it is developed. You will see that S2o has designed just such a multistage river and are building it now. In this instance the multi-stage river is wedged within a fairly tight space yet it will provide each of these components. The process of designing and implementing this project included:
a) An evaluation of the watershed at varying reach scales to define priorities and objectives for this particular reach within the context of the entire river system.
b) A conceptual design process in which varying solutions to meet these objectives were defined and evaluated until an acceptable design was reached (this process included a phase of public process which all of the town was invited to and invited to pose both questions and comments).
c) A computer modeling phase in which extensive floodplain modeling was completed to ensure that no one’s home or property was negatively impacted by the project and that velocities and depths met design objectives.
d) Several stages of design including grading, wall plans, design of the river, design of the habitat, and planting plans. As a part of this process the project received all required permits to verify that these plans met all the regulatory requirements for doing this work in a river in Colorado.
One of our concerns is about losing trees and riparian habitat along the river. The design team took all care possible to preserve as much plant life as possible and is replanting extensively to replace and improve the trees and riparian habitat lost. The good and bad news is that, over the last 50-100 years, the confined and unhealthy river has still seen tree growth and riparian growth along its banks. Many of these trees and plants are rooted in the same fill used to encroach upon the river years ago. In order to remove this fill and open the river up to create a healthy river system, these trees and plants need to be removed. Without this, we make only band-aid improvements that do not protect the Town nor improve stream health. We will replant native trees (over 10,000 trees or plants are being planted) as part of this project, once a healthy river system has been re-created. Please know that tree removal is not done lightly, but that extensive survey, design, computer modeling, and analysis was been completed prior to making these choices. Additionally, an arborist has been consulted when in doubt about individual trees and choices are then made based on this information.
Additionally, S2o has worked with consultants to implement fish habitat in microsystems along the river. The larger pool/riffle sequence has been further modified with imported boulders and superficial grading to create pools, riffles and velocity barriers in the river. S2o has also added woody debris and classic fish habitat structures such as bendway weirs, j-hooks, cross-veins, and deflectors to further increase the habitat functionality of the project.
The completed river will have less flood risk, be more resilient, will decrease velocities and stress on the river, and will provide a thriving eco-system for both in-stream and riparian habitat. This is a project that meets and exceeds the goals laid out in Lyons Long Range Recovery Process and one that provides us with a Town that will better endure the next flood.
Mike Tavares of Richmond, Virginia, paddled into a crashing wave between competitions during Animas River Days at the Santa Rita whitewater park Saturday in Durango.
Tavares, however, wasn’t in a boat; he was on a stand-up paddleboard.
“The water level is great this year,” he said. “It’s my first time surfing and paddling on the Animas, so I’m super-stoked.”
SUPs, as they’re called, are becoming a more common sight, and this year’s long-standing river festival – started by local paddler Nancy Wiley in 1982 – is no different. There are three new events dedicated to the SUPs – more than ever before.
Festival spokesperson Hope Tyler said there are several new aspects this year all based around the new vibe that Santa Rita is taking on, in and out of the water.
“Well, there’s the new park,” she said of the whitewater park that opened last year. “We’re one of the few parks that has eight features.”
On dry land, the hardscaping is complete. Now, the landscaping begins.
“This is what you’re going to see for upcoming events,” Tyler said.
Local rivers have spiked as snow continues to melt in the high country, coupled with good amounts of precipitation the region has received late in the year. One of the warmer days of the spring, the brown water carried logs and debris downstream picked up by the swell. Tyler said bets were going around the festival on what Saturday’s high water would be.
“We just hit 2,000 this morning,” she said. “People are excited.”
The competitions were so many, one would end, and another would begin – kayaking slaloms, SUP slaloms, SUP and boatercross. Every so often, rafts fully loaded would charge through the waves. There were dog tricks and film screenings. On Saturday night, an evening freestyle kayak competition was to be held.
On Sunday, the third day of the festival, there will be clinics all day offered by 4 Corners Riversports.
Animas River Days events coordinator Stacy Falk said competitors came from all corners of the globe.
“Last year, we had 40; this year, we have 100,” she said. “And they’re from England, France, New Zealand.”
Several professional athletes came specifically to represent SUP, spearheaded by whitewater instructors Anna and Drew Fisher of Surf the San Juans.
“The pros that are here are here because of them,” Falk said.
Ross Montandon of Noddingham, England, is on a four-month U.S. tour kayaking with his team. After the kayak slalom races, he stepped away to steal a look at the river.
“It’s like a traveling circus,” he said about his tour. In Durango for the first time, Montandon said the beauty of the West is the access.
Tyler said the 3,000 to 4,000 people that line the river for the annual river parade bear testimony.
Falk, who called Saturday “the most insane day of her life,” said event officials worked hard to make the festival stand out.
“If we want to get a sponsor like those big events that we want to compete with have, we need to prove that we can get people here, and we proved that (Saturday),” she said.
Team Rider Brittany Parker checked in with this recap of the Animas River Days event last weekend in Durango, Colorado. Photos by Heather Jackson.
Durango was a pleasant surprise for the Badfish crew. We had no idea how much the South-West Colorado college town was stoked on stand up paddling and river surfing. Durango is arguably the best paddling community in the State of Colorado, with a long history of whitewater paddling, so it was easy for us to feel at home at the Animas River Days at the Santa Rita Park.
To kick off the event team athletes Natali Zollinger and Brittany Parker organized a two day downriver and river surfing clinic hosted by the local paddling shop 4Corners Riversports. They worked on pivot turns, reading water, paddling technique, footwork, and had students paddling into the wave standing up by day two!
Saturday was jam packed with events and there wasn’t one podium without a team paddler on it. The beer was flowing from the Ska brewing tent and the crowd lined the bank waiting for the show to begin. Everyone loves carnage and the ‘Last Paddler Standing’ competition, promises it. Beginning at the top of the whitewater park the paddler has to make it through a series of substantial holes without falling off their board, otherwise it’s immediate disqualification. The crowd was roaring, rooting for most of us to fall, but Mike T. and Brittany Parker (on their 9’0” MVP) held their own placing in the top three.
Although, surf comps aren’t the norm for whitewater events, Durango is setting the stage for river surfing to become a competitive addition to event schedules. The guys were in their element and out to win. Between Zack Hughes spinning 540’s, Spencer Lacy’s pop shuv-its, and Mike Tavares’ hard carves they swept the podium.
We loved the Animas River Days but what really made an impression on us was the surf sessions outside of the competition. The local surfers are out there every day charging and encouraging others to try. They are true examples of what we all love about this community and the sport. We will be back next year! -Brittany Parker
Lyons, CO: Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper visited Lyons, Colorado today to announce the recipients of the Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) Flood Recovery grants for 2014. The Town of Lyons came away the big winner with a $1 million dollar award for the reconstruction of Meadow Park.
“This park is central not only to our community, but to our economy”, said Parks and Recreation Director Dave Cosgrove. S2o worked with Cosgrove as well as others in the community to help define the project, craft the grant, and create conceptual designs to aid GOCO in visualizing Lyons’ concept for the new and improved Meadow Park.
“We have a lot of projects we are working on at S2o right now”, said S2o Director Scott Shipley, “but the thing we are most proud of as a team are our efforts to help our hometown recover from the flood.” The $1 million dollar grant will aid Lyons with the more than $4 million dollars in damages that occurred in Meadow Park during the September 2013 flooding event. Rainfall in that month created flows of greater than 20,000 cubic feet per second in a streambed that normally runs less than 600 cubic feet per second. The disaster is credited with causing more than $50 million dollars damage to the Town as a whole.
“The great thing this grant does, more than any other funding so far, is begin the process of recreating Lyons as a destination for visitors and as a rebuilt Town for the people of Lyons. This is one of our first projects that is designed to welcome people back to this community”, commented S2o Engineer Nathan Werner. The funding will be put to use almost immediately as the S2o and DHM designed phase 1 of meadow park begins construction later this month.
Organizers of the Lyons Outdoor Games came to S2O Design with an urgent request: Can you pull together whitewater for this year’s Lyons Outdoor Games? A 1-in-500 year flood event devastated the town of Lyons, CO in 2013 and damaged a large swath of Town around the river. While the Town is committed to continuing its outdoor games, venues have needed to be re-created in order to host many of the events. S2o was asked to help create both the Slalom and Freestyle venues. S2o worked with the Town of Lyons Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Events and the local parks and recreation commission as well as organizers of the Outdoor Games to create the whitewater park needed for the games to occur.
S2O Design donated more than $10,000 in in-kind services and also sponsored the event. As a part of its efforts S2O Design worked with local stakeholders to design and lay-out the slalom and freestyle venues and then applied for USACE and FEMA permits required to work in the active waterway. The improvements included creation of a freestyle feature at the Black Bear hole and stabilization of the riverbed at the former location of the “A-Hole”, installation of a bendway weir to redirect flow off the south bank, and random boulder placements for slalom eddies and character.
The redesign has been a resounding success. The Freestyle feature is in and creates a great venue for the competition. The new eddies and pools also create a much better reach for the slalom races during this year’s Lyons Outdoor Games. “We are so excited to have world-class features for this year’s outdoor games” said event Organizer Rebecca Louzan, “we look forward to having some of the country’s best paddlers here on May 30th for the games”.
The Lyons Outdoor Games is a premier Colorado outdoor lifestyle, adventure sport and music festival. There will be a number of events focused around Bohn Park including a kid’s climbing wall and drink craft microbrew from over 50 craft microbreweries around the country. There will also be a number of world class athletes competing in professional kayaking, dirt jumping and slacklining comps! Visitors can sign up for this year’s Beer Relay or kick off your flip flops and jump on a slackline. Music will be performed by national touring acts and there will be concessions for food and beverages.
S2O Design is excited to have helped make this event happen. We are proud to provide our services to enhance great events like the Lyons Outdoor Games and to make Lyons a better place to live, visit, and recreate in.
The Olympic Delivery Authority — the folks responsible for developing and building Olympic venues — gave Shipley’s team a concept. The design requirements state the channel be an average of 1.4 meters deep, though it can vary from 40 cm to 2 meters, and a 5.5-meter drop. Once they designed a course that met those parameters, S20Design created an obstacle system in which all the boulders in the channel can be easily moved to change the behavior of the course and make the water rougher or smoother. The system, called Rapid Blocs, uses stackable blocks on rails.
