Burkholder Trail connects up with Loop Trail…

Fall 2010 –   Burkholder trail is now complete and connects up with the River Mountains Loop Trail.  Connectivity – Linkage – are two key phase words in the trail building community.  Trails need to go somewhere….connect to other trails and link you and me together.  Late this fall, October I think, the Burkholder Trail was completed and accepted into the Henderson trail system.  The trail follows Burkholder Road from it’s intersect with Lake Mead Parkway east until it connects with the Loop Trail at the northeast corner of the SNWA River Mountains Water Treatment facility.  From Burkholder Trail you can link up with Heritage Park & Senior Center, Basic High School, connect to Morrell Park on Major Ave., Robert Taylor elementary School, Valley View Recreation center and commercial shopping at Burkholder and Lake Mead Parkway.

Burkholder Trail from Lake Mead to Racetrack Rd. is on the south side of Burkholder Dr. and is landscaped and lighted for night-time travel.  At Racetrack Rd. your crossing is a striped cross-walk then crosses to the north side of Burkholder and continues as a 10-ft paved trail without landscaping and lighting as most of the r.o.w is on federal BOR managed lands.  The other thing you will note is the trail is all uphill from Lake Mead Parkway starting out on a gentle grade and gradually increasing the further east you go; of course it is all downhill going from RMLT west. 

  

 

Burkholder Trail looking northwest toward Lake Mead Parkway Oct. 2010

But connectivity doesn’t end here….The Burkholder Trail links up with the new Lake Mead Parkway Trail system currently being built.  When complete Lake Mead Parkway Trail will run from Boulder Highway east all the way to Lake Mead National Recreation Area which means connection back to the River Mountains Loop Trail and connection to the Wetlands Connector Trail and ……more.

 

SNWA Builds High-Concentration Photovoltaic near trail

May 11, 2009 –  Between trail mile marker 4.5 and 5.0 you will see new HCPV towers within SNWA River Mountains Water Treatment Facility. HCPV stands for High-Concentration Photovoltaic. These units will generate approxmiately .208 Mega-Watts to help meet SNWA power needs.  SNWA is committed to generate 20% percent of its energy needs through renewable resources by 2015, which parallels Nevada’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards. 

Photo below taken May 10, 2009 by Paul Grube

 Southern Nevada Water Authority has provided me the following fact sheet on this installation. See below…

 

 

RMWTF Solar Panel Installation

Facts

To promote its overall goals of sustainability and green living, the Southern Nevada Water Authority has initiated a renewable energy project to generate solar electricity. The project includes the installation of photovoltaic [solar] panels on the northeastern corner of the River Mountains Water Treatment Facility. (RMWTF)

 

The project will initially include approximately eight 55-foot-wide by 40-foot-tall solar modules on pedestals. A close-up example of what these solar modules will look like can be viewed as you drive northbound on Highway 93/95, just past the Russell Road exit on the east side.

 

The panels’ anti-reflective coating will maximize sunlight utilization while minimizing light reflection.  There will be no emission of excess heat, and the system will not utilize storage batteries. To maximize efficiency, the panels will gradually rotate to track the sun’s daily movements during daytime hours; however, the system will operate noiselessly.

 

The systems being installed are from Amonix, Inc. and are two-axis tracking concentrating solar photovoltaic units.  The Fresnel lenses on the units concentrate the sun approximately 500 times on one square centimeter multi-junction solar cells.  The multi-junction cells are a new technology that captures more of the light spectrum to produce more energy.   The nominal rated value of the six units installed is 222 kW.  During peak solar insolation days the output can be as high as 300 kW.  The amount of energy the systems will produce at nominal conditions is 555,000 kWh per year.  This is enough to power approximately 37 medium sized Las Vegas homes.  The units will begin producing test power by the end of May 2009 with a full in-service date in mid-July when all of the data collection hardware is installed.  The total installation is costing approximately $9,000 per kilowatt.

 

This project is part of the SNWA’s continuing commitment to enhance the sustainability of our desert community. If you have any questions, please contact Robin Rockey at 862-3405 or via e-mail at robin.rockey@snwa.com . 

 

Gallery photos:

Solar HCPV at SNWA Grube Photo 51009

SNWA solar panels photo by Paul 51109

Boulder City Connection – construction status

  The first mile from east to west is now paved and striped see photo below.  The east bridge footing is also underway as shown in following photo. This is the good news.  The bad news is construction is behind schedule due to some additional soil tests and borings required by NDOT in the pass area. We are now looking at a possible June/July opening date. Stay tuned.

#5 Paved & Striped looking west

March 20, 2009 – Bridge footings being dug & trail striping down on east end.

rmlt East bridge footing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feb. 24, 2009 – Paving to Cascata Rd. done. This segment is not open to the public, but hey check it out. Bridge has been ordered and is about six weeks out.  Rough grading from Cascata west to Railroad Pass has been done. Work currently on hold until retaining wall work in the pass area can be completed, test boring is now complete.

RMLT 5 paved Bootleg trail head veterans home

 

 

 

 

 

Feb. 12, 2009 – Great news today…Paving started Wednesday on the trail from Cascata Rd. back to the Veterans home.  Grading continues toward railroad pass.

Photo of asphalt lay down on Feb. 11, 2009:

Segmetn #5 paving 2/11/09

Jan. 20, 2009 – Grading and drainage work is now approaching 93/95 where you can see the activity from the road. The following photos were taken last week showing work between the highway and the railroad tracks.  This is where the construction gets tricky.

New photos of work here:

Construction pushes west to RR Pass Jan. 09

Nov. 20, 2008 – Construction work has started near the B.C. veterans homes  and is moving west along the SNWA water line alignment about the railroad tracks. Work started in September with 240 day construction contract.  The east portion of the project is fairly easy and straight forward, but gets more challengingmoving west. At the Cascada private road the contractor has ordered and has to place 150-foot pedestrian bridge over the roadway. Contuning west the trail turns down and crosses the railroad tracks then turns west again following an ever narrowing r.o.w. between uS 93/95 and the railroad.  The trail curves around to the north and encouters multiple dips or drainage issues which require extensive rock retaining wall work in order to lift the trail up and allow drainage to continue underneath. The final leg of the section then drops down into the Railroad Pass Hotel trail head already existing from previously completed portions of the River Mountains Loop Trail by the City of Henderson. 

I have included a few photos of current construction progress for your viewing pleasure.  As you can see there will be fantastic views of the mountains and Eldorado Valley below.

RMLT #5 Boulder City going west

 

 

The day the ribbon is cut for this trail segment opening will be a grand day in trail development for Southern Nevada.

Boulder city #5 RMLT west

RMLT #5 West Bridge footing

Trail Watch program kicks off in Henderson

This is a program used across the country to bring volunteers into the local trail system.  Trail Watch is intended to be the “Eyes & Ears” of what is happening on our trails.  Trail Watch provides improved safety for all trail users and also a means for trail maintenance and upkeep.  If you want to support Henderson trails and more specifically the River Mountains Loop Trail I encourage you to get involved by contacting Jennifer Magby, Outdoor Recreation Coordinator at 702-267-4050 or go online to City of Henderson web page, Parks & Recreation, and click on Trail Watch logo.  You can fill out an application online, then mail or fax it.  Photo in this post is yours truly completing my trail log at the SNWA rest area.

Link: http://www.cityofhenderson.com/parks/parks/trail_watch.php