Special Applications Artistic Merit

Captain William Clark Park at Cottonwood Beach

Location: Washougal, Clark County
Owner/developer: Vancouver-Clark Parks & Recreation Department
Project team: ACI Construction, general contractor; Turnstone Construction, concrete contractor; Barker Landscape Architects, designer; Berger ABAM, structural engineer; Pacific Rock Products, ready-mix supplier

Even the cargo inside the boats is made of shotcrete.

Captain William Clark Park at Cottonwood Beach occupies 80 acres on the Columbia River where the Lewis & Clark Expedition camped 200 years ago on its return trip up the river. The project created concrete replicas of the expedition’s flotilla of canoes: four ponderosa pine dugout canoes and three western red cedar canoes built by the Chinook tribe.

Shotcrete was used to match the color, texture and contours of the original canoes. A high level of artistic detail brought out the seams, cracks, protrusions and depressions of the expedition’s boats.

Adding to the project’s authenticity, cargo in the canoes — cedar bark baskets, kegs and an 80-pound chinook salmon — were also simulated with shotcrete.

Integral and surface colors and sealants were applied to the canoes and cargo to achieve a historically accurate appearance and to protect them from stains, discoloration and damage.

Ready-mix concrete was used for structural footings and the cores of the canoes. The footings anchor the boats against river currents and floods.