RED LODGE - Construction along Broadway Avenue in Red Lodge is in full swing, as the community attempts to repair the washed-out road before springtime.
From trees and beautiful scenery to rushing flood waters, the views from Rich Furber's front deck in Red Lodge has changed a lot over the past few months.
“We were able to get back to our house the next day, and the devastation was just unbelievable,” Furber said Monday afternoon.
Furber's house is located on the east bank of Rock Creek. Currently, their view consists of heavy construction machinery, but you won't hear any complaints from Furber.
“These guys work all day long every day," Furber said. "There’s no days off. They’re coming in and getting it done before high water this spring."
Furber's home didn't suffer any considerable damage due to the flooding, apart from their boiler needing to be replaced. However, many of his neighbor's homes were filled to the ceiling with debris.
“The entire neighborhood was walking up and down this street because we were losing trees right and left,” Furber said.
Tyler Kerns, project manager for Utah-based contractor Wadsworth Brothers, understands the sense of urgency behind the project, which is rebuilding the wall to prevent future flooding, and he also knows how important it is that the job is done right.
“We have a system that we can install in the timeline we need, and it will also meet the challenges of future storm events that won’t cause catastrophic failures,” Kerns said.
Kerns said the construction is moving north to south along Rock Creek and is scheduled to be wrapped up by mid-June.
“They’re in the neighborhood of twice as tall as the existing wall system," Kerns said. "Quite a bit deeper, quite a bit more robust. Shouldn’t have any of the issues down the road with the next flood event."
It's music to the ears of Rich Furber — although he knows the views from his front deck will never be the same.
“I can’t imagine, in the rest of my life, ever looking across here and not knowing what it used to look like,” Furber said.
