New transient boat dock
to arrive at Madison riverfront
City officials plan to have the dock
in place by end of May
(April 2014) – Construction of Madison’s new transient boat dock was completed in January at Adams Marina and is scheduled to be installed before Memorial Day Weekend, according to John Bruns, who headed the project for the Madison Riverfront Development Committee. The 10x100-foot, steel boat dock will provide temporary day-only docking at the Madison Boat Ramp. No overnight docking will be permitted and no amenities, such as water or electrical hookups, will be provided.
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Photo courtesy of John Bruns The boat dock was built at Adams Marina, just upriver from the Madison Boat Ramp, where it will be installed. |
The City of Madison helped pay for the new docks at a cost of $80,000. Adams Marina is located about six miles up the Ohio River from the Madison Boat Ramp. The new dock will be floated downstream in April or May and installed, according to Bruns.
A boater himself, Bruns worked with city officials to obtain a matching grant from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management in the amount of $54,000. The grant, secured via the Boating Infrastructure Grant and Clean Vessel Act, required that 25 percent be funded locally. So the Riverfront Development Committee and the City of Madison split that amount, which totaled $26,000, according to Andrew Forrester, the city’s Community Relations Manager.
Another $21,750 was awarded to Madison to pay for the pump-out station, which costs $29,000. The city and the committee split the matching total of $7,250. The pump-out station is a hoses and holding tank that allows boaters to remove waste from their boats. The waste remains in the tank until it is pumped out and sent to the city’s wastewater treatment facility. The pump-out station should also be ready for installation in May, according to Forrester, because the city has received its permits.
In addition to the boat ramp and pump-out station, city officials hope to paint-stripe the boat ramp parking lot to improve traffic flow and allow for launching up to six boats at a time. The launching lanes will be created by painting them onto the parking lot pavement.
Meantime, the Riverfront Development Committee is raising money to install a concrete slab under water at the city boat ramp to provide a smooth surface for launching boats. Currently, there is a severe dropoff under water at the ramp that has been caused by longterm erosion, according to Jim Pruett, a boater and the president of the Riverfront Development Committee.
“This has made it difficult to launch boats there because they must be backed farther into the Ohio River,” Pruett said.
A similar concrete slab was installed two years ago in Rising Sun, Ind. Madison officials are awaiting word on a federal matching grant application from the U.S. Department of Fish & Wildlife to help pay for a similar slab to be installed in Madison. The cost is estimated at $60,000.
Currently, there is a culvert at the Madison boat ramp located just east of the Madison Regatta grandstand. The new boat ramp will be installed downriver from the culvert. The concrete slab will be installed just upriver from the culvert, Pruett said.