AS OF MONDAY, SEP 2
Grading and seeding
Our contractor spread and graded the sand that was piled on the picnic area after which he spread and graded soil over the sand. He will let this settle for a few days after which he will return this week to spread topsoil and sow grass seed.
This photo shows the grading work to date. Scroll to the bottom of the page for an explanation of this work.
Picnic tables
One old picnic table was removed and hauled to the dump; the other was disassembled and its pieces stacked out of the way in the picnic area to be removed later this week (when Joe’s truck is out of the shop).
On Labor Day, Frank Goyette and Joe Schlatter assembled one of the new tables and placed it on one of the gravel beds where the old wooden tables once stood. They will assemble and place the second table later this week.
Here are two photos — the top photo is the new table in place, the second photo shows Frank working where the second table will be placed. The parts of the second table are lying on the gravel bed in front of Frank.
A note about the picnic tables
While the first table is complete and the second will soon be in place, there is still a bit of finishing work to be done. We need to (1) trim the boards on the table top and emplace strips at each end of the top; (2) remove rough areas on the boards as best we can; (3) emplace security chain on each table to deter anyone from hauling the tables away.
When you use these picnic tables: We have done the best we can to remove any splinters or spots of sap from the wood. However, this is fresh pressure treated lumber; small splinters may emerge, and, sap may seep from around knots in the wood. Please watch for splinters and sap — a splinter can inflict a small but painful wound, and, sap is difficult to get out of clothing if you sit on or rub against a spot of sap.
What was the purpose of the work at the picnic area?
Level top of the bulkhead. As shown in the photo below, the top of about 80 feet of the bulkhead was lower than the other half of the bulkhead. This caused water to wash over the low portion of the bulkhead and carry soil into the river, thereby weakening the bulkhead and removing soil from the picnic area. In fact, in this photo, at the far low end of the bulkhead, you can see soil crumbling over the bulkhead and into the river. We needed to raise the low part of the bulkhead to the same height as the rest of the bulkhead. Frank Goyette designed a structure to raise the top of the bulkhead — the design worked well. We installed the bulkhead extension with volunteers, taking about a month to complete the work. With volunteer labor, our only expense was materials.
Level, grade, and seed the part of the picnic area behind the raised bulkhead. After the bulkhead extension was installed, our contractor filled in the area behind the extension with sand topped with fill dirt and compacted the fill. After allowing the fill to settle from a few days of rain, the contractor will dump, grade, and compact topsoil followed by grass seed.
Complete the breakwater. In 2017 we installed one gabion basket – heavy galvanized wire basket filled with rocks – at the western end of the breakwater and three years ago Andy Cockrell installed another gabion basket at the eastern end of the breakwater, at the end of the observation deck. We knew at the time that we would need to install armor stone over the gabion baskets to make a solid breakwater, however, finances would not permit the work at that time.
Our breakwater is now complete with two small openings for canoes, kayaks, waders, or swimmers to enter/leave the small lagoon in front of our bulkhead. Meanwhile, we hope the finished breakwater at the end of the observation deck will prevent the sand on our small beach from washing away and will allow more sand to accumulate.
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