|
MURPHY HIGH SCHOOL
TRACK
(October 2009 - March 2011)
Primary Project Design:
Michael Baker
Engineering, Inc.
Primary Contractor: River
Works, Inc.
Intro
A local citizen and
graduate of Murphy High School who uses the athletic track regularly
contacted HRWC and other agencies in the summer of 2007 to voice
concerns about trash and brushy non-native vegetation at the site.
During the meetings that followed, it was determined that not only
were there severe infestations of non-native, invasive plants, but a
portion of the bank was eroding. Because of undercutting beneath the
track, the situation was not just a water quality problem, but a
public safety one as well.
After obtaining the
support of the school board, HRWC applied for and, in September 2008
received, a $65,000 grant from the NC Section 319 Nonpoint Source
Pollution Program. Shortly thereafter, in partnership with HRWC,
the Cherokee Co. Soil & Water Conservation District received nearly
$14,000 from the NC Community Conservation Program to assist with
construction of stormwater best management practices. Additional
habitat restoration funds were provided through a grant from the SE
Aquatic Resources Partnership.
Conditions of Site Prior To Project
The Murphy High School
track was built on fill material which was used to build up the land
along the Valley River at the High School. Approximately 210 linear
feet of the bank along the river was eroding and the bank was
beginning to undercut the land where the track was built. Large
amounts of sediment were entering the river during storm events. The
land all along the river at the high school was also severely
infested with invasive exotic plants such as Chinese privet,
multiflora rose, kudzu, and Japanese honeysuckle. Although some
large native trees were present in the riparian area, the understory
was almost completely composed of non-native, invasive plants.
Climbing invasive vines were starting to impact some of the existing
trees.
Goals &
Objectives
This
individual project is part of
the multi-year
Valley River Watershed Restoration
Project begun in 2004 and
continuing into the present. The
primary goal of the larger project is to reduce turbidity
and sedimentation such that full use support status is
returned to the Valley River and it is removed from the
303(d) List of impaired waters.
Site-specific objectives of the Murphy High School Track
project are to:
-
Reduce bank erosion and nonpoint source pollution
associated with stormwater runoff from the track site to
to
reduce turbidity and improve aquatic habitat in the
Valley River;
-
Create an easily accessible demonstration site in the
Town of Murphy,
NC and the Valley River watershed; and
-
Further educate people about watershed problems and
solutions
|
Earth Team volunteer, Brian Wood, helped
students remove dead trees and invasive species in the
buffer of the Valley River at the Murphy High School Track.
|
Restoration Activities
Work to remove and treat
the invasive exotic plant infestation began on Earth Day –
April 22nd – 2009. On that day, 13 classes and
more than 200 students from Murphy Middle and High schools,
as well as about a dozen teachers and adult volunteers
picked up trash and cleared invasive plants from the
riparian buffer area at the track site. The total number of
person-hours worked was 233.25 with a value of $2,383.68
used as match to the 319 grant! HRWC held several other
workdays over the course of the project with volunteers from
Murphy High School, Hiwassee Dam High School, Young Harris
College, and several universities participating in HRWC’s
Alternative Spring Break Program. Most of the invasive plant
species are now eradicated from the buffer on this property,
and native trees and shrubs like river birch, red maple,
native oaks, silky dogwood, and others have been planted to
enhance the stream buffer. |
|
|
Before |
After |
April 22, 2009 at 8:30am before the
Earth Day workday began. |
April 22, 2009 at 3:30am after the
Earth Day workday was over. |
|
Due to
the steepness of the bank, the narrow riparian width along
the channel (confined by floodplain filling for the athletic
complex), depth of the river, and available funding for the
project, Baker determined that stabilization with geolifts
was the most feasible option. Geolifts are used to create a
stable bank in areas where a steep slope is required, a
green or vegetated bank is possible and shear stresses are
expected to be moderate.
In
February 2011, River Works began by building a stone toe at
the base of the structure to prevent undermining. Then lifts
of soil were placed in 1-2 foot thick layers and supported
above and below by coir fabric which covered the outward
facing side of the lift (or wrapped) in order to guard
against erosion of the face and to provide a stable matrix
for vegetation to grow through. Next live, woody cuttings
were layered between the lifts with the tops facing outward. |
December 2007 |
|
Before |
After |
February 2011 |
March 2011 |
Linear Feet of Stream Restoration
210 feet of Valley River
Linear Feet of Enhanced Buffer
1461
feet of one side (average width 50 feet)
June 2011 |
|
