Avista Corp. says it has lined up more than $1 million in work this summer and fall related to its hydroelectric projects on the Spokane River near downtown.

One of the most visible of four projects will include constructing a maintenance-and-viewing platform near Upper Falls Dam, in Riverfront Park.

Dix Corp., of Spokane, the contractor on the Upper Falls Dam project has erected a large crane on a barge to assist with that work.

"We're dong sandblast, painting, repair to the radial gates, and other work that goes with it," says Mike Ferguson, spokesman for Dix.

It's not a large job by the heavy-construction company's standards, but it's close to home, Ferguson says.

"It's very seldom that we get work downtown, or even in town," he says.

Most of Dix's recent work has been on hydropower, shipping, and fishery-related facilities on the Columbia River, he says.

Anna Scarlett, a spokeswoman for Avista, says Dix will construct a platform that will allow access to the Upper Falls power generation plant for maintenance work.

"Once the work is complete, park visitors will have a permanent spot to enjoy views of the river," Scarlett says.

In another project Avista recently put out for bid, the company plans to complete an aesthetic-flow project for the Upper Falls.

The project will include pouring concrete structures that will match the riverbed in color, Scarlett says. The structures will help a portion of the river flow through the north channel during low-water conditions.

"The goal is to have more of a cascading waterfall through both channels," Scarlett says.

Avista hopes to complete that project this fall. "We were delayed on all of these projects because of the high runoff," she says.

The aesthetic-flow project is a condition of Avista's 50-year license renewal agreement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to operate five hydroelectric dams on the Spokane River.

Another planned river job that's more routine in nature will involve removing rock and rubble at the intake structure at the Monroe Street Dam, Scarlett says.

Material that accumulates there can interfere with hydropower generation and can damage the dam, Scarlett says. That work will be conducted in September, she says.

In a related project, biologists are studying fish populations in the Upper Falls and Nine Mile Falls reservoirs, Scarlett says.

"We want to make sure that whatever we're doing is improving trout habitat," she says.