Project Description

Area Name:

Rockford Beach Access

Location:

The area is located in Jefferson County, Missouri (T43N, R4E, Section 33) about a mile west of House Springs. Going to the area from the Highway 30/Highway W intersection in House Springs, you travel west on Highway W, cross the bridge over the Big River, and turn right at the area entrance road (~ 0.8 miles west of Highway 30). The area is on the west side of the Big River and downstream of the Highway W bridge. The construction site is about 500' upstream of an old mill dam and about 250' downstream of the old boat ramp (see attached map).

Area Size:

Rockford Beach Access is about 8 acres in size. The "footprint" of the construction activities will be less than one acre.

Control/Ownership:

The area was purchased by the Missouri Department of Conservation in April 1980, named House Springs Access, developed, and then conveyed to Jefferson County on October 14, 1997 with the condition that the property shall revert back to the Department should the County fail to keep the area open year around to the public for fishing, boat launching and other appropriate uses. In the February 15, 1996 cooperative agreement with Jefferson County and in the subsequent January 17, 2002 amendment, the Department agreed to construct a concrete boat ramp at this area.

Facilities Development:

The Department of Conservation will construct a short, aggregate-surfaced access road and boat trailer maneuvering area off of an existing parking area, and construct a new reinforced concrete boat ramp (16' x 160') to replace an existing boat ramp (see attached site plan). As part of the project, the elevation of an existing old road bed downstream of the new boat ramp will be lowered in order to reduce erosion on the area during flood events. Areas disturbed by construction will be seeded and mulched.

Estimated Project Costs:

Total Project Cost $159,508.22
Federal Share $119,631.17
State Share $39,877.05

Availability to Users:

The area will provide better public boating and fishing access to the Big River, a popular fishing stream just south of the St. Louis metropolitan area. This area is about 9.8 miles downstream of Cedar Hill Access (owned by Jefferson County) and about 10 miles upstream of the Big River's confluence with the Meramec River. However, the old mill dam that is located about 500' downstream of the proposed boat ramp prevents boating directly to the confluence.

Due to its poor design and location, the existing boat ramp has been virtually unusable for several years. It is little more than a concrete-surfaced notch in the stream bank. As a result, its lower end is covered with silt and sediment by every high water event. The situation cannot be remedied through maintenance with heavy equipment (sediment amounts are too great and flood events are too frequent) or ramp extension (the ramp would extend too far into channel with little slope). The new ramp will be located in a more stable and much deeper portion of the pool.

For additional information or to provide comments, please contact:

Marlyn L. Miller
Missouri Department of Conservation
PO Box 180
Jefferson City, MO 65102
millem@.mdc.state.mo.us
573-522-4115, #3164