In September 2013, two weeks of severe storms along 200 miles of the central Rocky Mountain Front Range resulted in devastating floods and landslides affecting seventeen Colorado counties. This resulted in a major declaration for the event. Included among many hundreds of damaged properties was a significant early 20-century industrial archaeological site at the base of Pikes Peak – the Manitou Springs Incline (co-located with the historic Manitou Hydro-Electric Plant Pipeline). This location has functioned as a popular community recreation area for decades and has also achieved notoriety as an unofficial facility for U.S. Olympic Team cardio and endurance training.
The City of Colorado Springs (Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services Department) applied for a FEMA-funded grant to repair and mitigate the recreational trail and to protect the water line - both located on lands administered by the City of Colorado Springs and the Pike-San Isabel National Forest (PSINF). This report focuses specifically on the Manito Springs Incline corridor (comprising the incline itself and the Manitou Hydro-Electric Plant Pipeline, both listed on the National Register of Historic Places.)
The Incline, a narrow-gauge funicular railway, was constructed along a very steep, east-facing slope of Mount Manitou in 1903 by the Pikes Peak Hydro-Electric Company. The Incline supported construction of a 36-inch diameter pipeline (fed by snowmelt) servicing a local hydroelectric plant. Having served its original utilitarian purpose, the alignment was sold to a private entity and converted into a successful tourist attraction used for eight decades.
The tram and associated pipeline are historic engineering marvels, within a truly spectacular mountainous setting – climbing 2,000 feet of elevation in a little less than a mile (from 6,600 to 8,600 feet), at gradients between 45-68%. Because of ongoing erosion over the years and then damages caused by the 2013 flood event, the City Parks Department proposed a multi-year, phased program of construction to improve failing and structurally compromised elements associated with the historic transportation/utility corridor. In conjunction with the National Historic Preservation Act, the state needed to conduct a Cultural Resource Survey to comply with regulations connected to a series of trail rehabilitation projects within and adjacent to the National Forest.
Although the funicular’s rails were removed in the early 1990s, new drainage systems and wooden rail tie stabilization were needed to ensure public safety, to preserve the trail for continued use, and to protect the active water line. The project would replace and/or mitigate retaining walls, culverts, check dams, chases, rail ties and supports/anchors (of varying ages) to capture runoff and to control erosion. Most areas would be further stabilized with geotextile fabric and seeded with native vegetation.
Many aspects of the location, materials, design, setting, feeling, and association remain for the historic property, despite the removal of the rails and damage to other elements. For this reason, consultation among city officials, FEMA, PSINF, and leaders with the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Tribes, concluded that archaeological monitoring of construction would occur to achieve a project determination of “no adverse effect to historic properties” to maintain compliance. It was also agreed that no element contributing to the eligibility of the Manitou Hydro-Electric Plant Pipeline was to be removed or impacted by construction.
Outcome
Repairs and mitigation measures to the trail began in August of 2016 and completed in December of 2016. With the guidance of EHP, state archaeologists spent almost three months at the site closely monitoring all excavations and repair activities - including helicopter access material storage sites throughout the course of construction.
Numerous artifacts were recovered during construction activity (including spikes, ties, bottle glass and ceramics, other iron fasteners, railcar wheels). Artifacts too large to carry off-site were documented and reburied in the location of discovery (e.g., steel rail sections). Smaller artifacts were plotted through GPS and collected. An agreement between FEMA and state officials allowed the artifacts to be returned to the Manitou and Pikes Peak Railway Company Museum.
This project was successful in a variety of ways: it was a good example of the Unified Federal Review process and partnerships among federal and state agencies and local tribal partners. The project also highlighted the importance of preserving this unique part of Colorado’s past while allowing modern usage of the site to continue and explaining this process to the public.