--- title: White River Rock Ramp Completed in October description: White River Rock Ramp Completed in October image: https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hubfs/COVER%20-%20Rock%20Ramp%20-%20Drone%20Overall-1.jpg --- [![](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hubfs/Engauge/engauge-logo.jpg)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge) [![](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hubfs/Backgrounds/search-mobile.png)](https://www.citizensenergygroup.com/Search) # White River Rock Ramp Completed in October By Mandy Saucerman on 12/13/21 9:09 PM ![](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hubfs/COVER%20-%20Rock%20Ramp%20-%20Drone%20Overall-1.jpg) A new rock ramp on the White River is helping to provide adequate water supply to the White River Water Treatment Plant after the failure of the Emrichsville Dam, just south of 16th Street, in fall 2018.  Prior to the failure of the low-head dam, Citizens Energy Group had begun building a water intake structure near 33rd Street along the White River as a complement to another project further upstream—a floodgate on the Central Canal near 56th Street.   Before the intake was constructed, water only reached the White River Water Treatment Plant by flowing all the way down the Central Canal from just north of 63rd Street to the plant near 16th Street. The occasional closure of the floodgate (to prevent flooding in the Broad Ripple and Warfleigh neighborhoods) would shut off water supply to the White River Water Treatment Plant, necessitating an intake structure farther downstream to move water from the river to the canal to reach the treatment plant.  ![DSC_0039](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DSC_0039.jpg?width=310&name=DSC_0039.jpg)![DSC_0038](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DSC_0038.jpg?width=310&name=DSC_0038.jpg)               The intake’s reliance on the Emrichsville Dam to create a pool of water to feed into the structure required the dam to be replaced. A rock ramp was chosen as the solution because it mitigates the primary risks associated with a traditional low-head dam, which blocks the river and vertically forces it to flow over the top of the dam.   A rock ramp is constructed by placing large limestone boulders (organized in arches across the river) on top of a constructed crushed limestone ramp to form a stepped structure that holds back the water to form an upstream pool.   ![DSC_0178](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DSC_0178.jpg?width=350&name=DSC_0178.jpg)With a slope less than a sidewalk ramp, the rock ramp is much safer than the Emrichsville Dam, which was a 9-foot-high wall across the river. To further enhance safety, signs posted upstream of the rock ramp direct people in watercraft such as canoes and kayaks to exit the river and follow a newly constructed stone path around the structure, which is not designed for navigation.  Unlike a low-head dam, the ramp also enhances the ecology of the river by allowing fish and other aquatic life to move through the structure.  Construction of the White River Rock Ramp, located about a mile north of the original dam, was completed in October, a month earlier than projected, and restored a large percentage of Lake Indy, a body of water used by community members.  “Teamwork played a critical role in the success of this project,” said **Matt Thomas**, Director, Plant Engineering. “After 20 meetings with various stakeholders, we came to a compromise with the design and location, and we are pleased that the rock ramp is functioning as planned and is proving to be mutually beneficial for Citizens and our customers.”  ### Current Articles ### Recent Issues - [November 2019 (23)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/11) - [November 2018 (21)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2018/11) - [January 2021 (21)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/01) - [October 2021 (21)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/10) - [February 2020 (20)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/02) - [December 2021 (20)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/12) - [October 2018 (19)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2018/10) - [January 2019 (19)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/01) - [June 2020 (19)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/06) - [August 2019 (18)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/08) - [October 2019 (18)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/10) - [April 2020 (18)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/04) - [September 2022 (18)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/09) - [July 2019 (17)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/07) - [July 2020 (17)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/07) - [June 2021 (17)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/06) - [April 2019 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/04) - [January 2020 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/01) - [October 2020 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/10) - [December 2020 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/12) - [April 2021 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/04) - [July 2021 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/07) - [September 2020 (15)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/09) - [March 2021 (15)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/03) - [June 2022 (15)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/06) - [February 2019 (14)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/02) - [May 2019 (14)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/05) - [May 2022 (14)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/05) - [July 2022 (14)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/07) - [October 2023 (13)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2023/10) - [September 2021 (12)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/09) - [March 2023 (12)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2023/03) - [May 2023 (12)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2023/05) - [June 2023 (12)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2023/06) - [February 2022 (11)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/02) - [August 2018 (10)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2018/08) - [August 2023 (10)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2023/08) - [March 2022 (9)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/03) [![PDF Archives](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2545024/33b9e93c-8f43-4101-9b48-7e78154731f5.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2545024/33b9e93c-8f43-4101-9b48-7e78154731f5) **Engauge** is published by Citizens Energy Group, Corporate Affairs Department, under the direction of Shannon Stahley, Director of Corporate and Public Affairs. 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