Project: Old Greenville Bank Stabilization
Location: Wappapello Lake, Wayne County MO

Project Background & Description

Lake Wappapello is a reservoir on the St. Francis River, formed by Wappapello Dam. Created in 1941, this 8,400-acre lake is located 120 miles south of St. Louis, Missouri. The reservoir lies mostly in Wayne County, but its southernmost reaches extend into northern Butler County, both in Missouri. As part of a four-phase project, The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) contracted with a general contractor to provide bank stabilization on the Old Greenville section of the St. Francis River. 

Project Summary

For its part, Bloomsdale Excavating was contracted to place rip rap along seven sections of eroded shoreline on the St. Francis River.  As one can imagine, access to the eroding shoreline along a heavily wooded riverbank would not be possible.  All rip rap would need to be placed from barges on the river itself.  As such, the project would require considerable preconstruction planning and communication between all parties. 

The first challenge would necessitate rip rap be hauled in and stockpiled near the boat access area and then loaded on to barges and barged up-river nearly 1 mile away.  To accommodate hauling in and stockpiling the rip rap and barges, a special “loading facility” was constructed.  Using a wheel loader and excavator Bloomsdale filled all the barges which were then hoisted into the river with a 250-ton crane.  Once in the river each barge would be pushed up-river, via a tugboat to the site. Upon arriving at the worksite, Bloomsdale utilized another excavator, on a separate flat barge, and placed the rip rap along the shoreline. To complicate things a bit, most of the work areas were close to an active campground filled with vacationers.  Once a barge was emptied, it was tugged back to the original loading facility and hoisted out of the river, disassembled and reloaded onto transport semi’s.  

In total, this project consisted of placing 22,000 tons of 90-120 pound rip rap along the eroding river bank.    

Project Success

Despite the environmental and logistical challenges, Bloomsdale successfully placed all 22,000 tons of rip rap along the river-bank without disrupting recreational river use, or boat ramp and camp ground access.