UWUA Local 335 volunteers teamed up with the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance and Missouri American Water in August to complete construction of a non-motorized boat ramp at Minnie Ha Ha Park in Sunset Hills, MO, for the second time this year.
The ramp was less than a week old when catastrophic flooding destroyed the newly poured concrete in May. Undeterred, the three project partners devised a design they believe will stand up to flood waters from the Meramec River.
During the original project, Union Sportsmen’s Alliance volunteers spent approximately 250 hours tearing out the original ramp, which was built in the 1940s and in poor condition, and then grading, framing, laying rebar and pouring new concrete. The project was finished in late April. Mere days later, historic flooding damaged 90 percent of the structure beyond repair.
Volunteers returned to Minnie Ha Ha Park in early August and spent another 260 hours completing the project once again. To help the ramp weather future flooding, volunteers poured a deeper footing all the way up the ramp and placed larger rocks on its upriver side.
“A lot of people kayak and canoe the Meramec River, and the old boat ramp at Minnie Ha Ha Park was in pretty bad shape for the past 10-15 years,” said UWUA Local 335 President Allan Bathon.