by Ritch Shoemaker MD,
project
chairmanPosted Tuesday, May 6th 2013
Nature Trail Construction Update
Construction:
Any case you missed it this weekend, the fast moving tornado that swept through the Nature Trail Loop construction project was Larry Fykes (construction foreman) and Andy Clarke (transport foreman) scooping up very task we had to complete and blowing them away. Russ Blake caught a few candid photos of our crew at the Saturday rack building session. I hope he had a fast lens to stop the action!
Let’s face it; this entire project is complex and heavy. The construction project now includes over 50 tons of materials that have to be organized, moved to the Trail site, staged and assembled. We are well on the way!
Saturday we had just a couple of hours to put together 38 racks, each 4 foot by 16 foot, with five cross braces. Done; the racks are now stockpiled at the City Public Works lot. Back in 1993, building flimsier versions of these racks took us old guys at least three sessions of hand hammering of three hours each to finish. Now that Larry and Andy are tooled to do the job, our work crew of Andy, Larry, Robbie Mills, Scott Tatterson and his 9th grade son Hunter, Mike Thornton, Rob Clarke (no kidding I have photos of Rob working) and I knocked out all the racks in 125 minutes. Don Malloy supervised. You had to see those guys crank out the racks! After a task decision-process that took at least 5 minutes, the racks were put together in 115 minutes. It is incredible to think that a rack could be finished and stacked in less than four minutes each.
Robbie Mills has another nickname now: call him Hammer, the nail gun man. These racks are stronger than our old ones, with four nails per side (not three) and five cross braces not four. Hunter wasn’t too thrilled at first (it seemed) to be volunteering to carry 70-pound boards when the rest of his class mates might be still sleeping. And Mike was inscribing nailing lines as fast as he could bend over to do so.
Please don’t be bashful about suggestions.
But since the access bridge to the island is now sturdy, we have to get ready for hauling in our materials for the Memorial Day weekend construction. Remember, we need you to help! If you aren’t interested in hauling wood for the actual construction, how about a nice donation? Or buy a famous Bird T-shirt!
Andy is so in to tools. He is often reminded of his uncle’s suggestion to invest in tools that will save labor immediately and for the days to come. Here again, the advances of the next generation need recognition. There I was, sweating for 10 minutes to use loppers to clear out a 30 square foot area of greenbrier, scrubby alder and gum. Andy had his metal blade on a device that looked like a trimmer. In 10 minutes, Andy is barely breaking a sweat and 70 square feet are clear. Meanwhile Larry has figured out how the Trail will traverse the creek and the wetlands beyond. Don has supervised. All told, 60 minutes passed and the entire site is cleared and is ready to go.
Monday afternoon the rocket pace of Trail work continued. This time, all it took was 90 minutes for the delivery of 50 trimmed railroad ties to the island site. Think about it. Take a chain a saw, cut through a sandy, creosoted railroad tie without significantly dulling the chain. First, though push the 200 pound tie far enough away from its stack to cut off 30 inches using a simple template to mark the 30 .inches mark. Nice work, Andy and Larry.
Meanwhile Larry is scrounging pallets for the (bound to be useful) 30 inch pieces. Scott Tatterson and son Hunter are joined by Mike Redden, who seems to be everywhere lifting ties and organizing them on Andy’s trailer. Almost immediately the trailer is loaded with 7500 pounds of ties, the pieces are on three pallets and we are off to the island. Don has supervised.
The ties don’t jump off the trailer by themselves and they sure don’t make a neat and tidy pile in the forward staging area by themselves. Amazing. The whole job only took 90 minutes.
Donations! Don agrees it is a good idea to show civic pride to help this project.
Mayor Bruce Morrison donated a foot as did Jennifer and John Rafter. Dr. John Whittaker (and Suzanne) donated two feet, as did Don Malloy; and also Jim and Dee Norton.
Just about every business in town has received a donation packet by now, complete with free Trail book and a nifty bumper sticker (this one was designed by Debbie Waidner). If you don’t have a packet, call the Chamber at 410-957-1919 or my office at 410-957-1550. We will get one to you right away.
Next up is the rest of the railroad ties. We need strong backs and a willingness to work fast. And have a good time! We have started building bridges over deep holes in the island entry way to the new Trail construction; that work will be done soon. We need to transport the 38 racks and over 950 pieces of boardwalk decking.
Please join us in this worthy cause. We would like to be done by Memorial Day.
I am so happy to see new work being done on the Pocomoke Nature Trail. For me, it just isn't quite a long enough walk. There is so much more to explore out in the marsh and pine forest. I'd like to challenge local teachers and Scout leaders to take children to the trail and have them write about what they have seen & experienced. I'm sure the PPE would love to publish the children's writing! Adults too should take a walk, mornings, evenings, all seasons. Even go so far as to carry along wildflower and birding guides, or the trail book which was published a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteWe have a rich resource in this trail. It has no admission fee! Few small towns can boast of such an ambitious volunteer project which benefits so many!
Get out there and see what's blooming, chirping, rustling, or swimming.