Pigeon

American Whitewater and partners attended a site visit hosted by NCDOT on the Pigeon Dries to learn about the highway reconstruction and share our interests in the river. We confirmed that below Chinese Arithmetic the river is filled in with 10-13 feet of highway rock, and above that it is in pretty good shape. NCDOT has built a rock haul road on/in the river for much of it's length. This road is severely impacting the rapids in some locations, and less so in others. As the 2-3 year project proceeds the haul road will be removed, and the riverbed will be restored to some extent. American Whitewater is working to make sure we end up with a solid recreational river when the work is done. The 10+ feet of highway rock will be removed from the lower 2-3 miles, likely leaving a bedrock riverbed. The haul road's removal could radically change the rapids in the upper half if not done well.