"Surgery" under way on river

by Tom Joyce
April 8, 2009 - 10:26 pm

Work now under way along the Ararat River in Mount Airy seemingly has nothing in common with the practice of medicine, but an engineer for the project used such a comparison Wednesday to describe what’s occurring.

“This is a sick river,” said Will Harmon of Baker Engineering in Cary, the firm that laid the groundwork for a $3.25 million restoration effort that began on the local waterway last week.

“Anytime we do this type of project, we kind of treat it like a patient,” added Harmon, an experienced stream designer who was on site Wednesday at Riverside Park as several workers manned heavy equipment in the stream bed.

Crews with North State Environmental Inc. of Winston-Salem were awarded the contract for the job, which involves restoring banks of the river that are said to be eroding at the rate of 15 feet per year. In addition to rehabilitating stream banks victimized by erosion, the three-year project will involve developing recreational facilities along the river, including Mount Airy’s second greenway trail.

Harmon said that in describing such stream restoration, “I always tell people it is more like medicine than it is standard engineering.” Equipment operators at work in the river Wednesday resembled a team of surgeons as dirt was meticulously filled in along the banks, while large rocks sat nearby awaiting their careful placement into the river.

The largest of the granite boulders weigh 6 to 8 tons, said Harmon, who grew up in Mount Airy and is now involved with a project to improve one of its major streams. The rocks are being positioned at strategic locations to divert the water flow in a way that prevents erosion along the banks. They were supplied locally by companies including Ararat Rock Products.

Along with stream-bank stabilization and the installation of in-river structures, the project includes structural components; various park amenities; retaining walls; bridges; and culverts, in addition to the greenway. Trees and shrubs will be planted to absorb runoff, a major cause of erosion.

Harmon said that engineers have employed a “natural channel design” for the project, which incorporates a more thoughtful approach than simply dumping riprap into the water to control flow. The final result will be a natural, rather than manmade, look for the Ararat River, he said.

Baker Engineering has extensive experience in designing such projects, including returning sections of the Mitchell River in Surry County to a more natural state.

The centerpiece of the greenway will be the H.B. Rowe Environmental Park, a facility that will include nature trails and habitats. Under a master plan approved by city parks and recreation leaders, facilities along the river also will be added or upgraded, including new concession stands, lighted ball fields, canoe and kayak access points and improved parking areas.

Mount Airy’s contract with North State Environmental Inc. covers about 16,929 feet of river restoration, 11,531 feet of greenway trails and three park locations.

The project has been in the planning stages for several years, with the city obtaining various grants to fund the effort, including a $500,000 award from the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund in 2008 and an identical grant the year before. Mount Airy allocated $200,000 annually for five years for stream-bank restoration and for about the first 4,000 feet of the Ararat River greenway.

Officials have said the work could interrupt some activities at Riverside Park as it progresses.

But several bystanders stood behind a temporary fence-barrier on the grounds of the recreational facility Wednesday to watch the heavy machinery at work in the water nearby. Among them were Heidi Baker of Ararat, Va., and her son Jackson, who’ll soon turn 3.

“He loves trucks,” Baker said of her son. “So when we saw them working, we had to stop.”