By Gary Lloyd
TRUSSVILLE — Engineers were set to complete a “substantial completion walkthrough” last week at the Cahaba River enhancement project site in Trussville, according to LBYD’s Curtis Eatman.
Eatman wasn’t sure of the exact date, but he said he believed planting will take place in the first week of February.
In December, construction was “essentially finished,” said Greg Jennings, a specialist in biological and agricultural engineering, who gave a tour of the project’s progress.
A downstream view of the Cahaba River next to the Trussville Senior Activity Center in December
file photo by Gary Lloyd
The project, which began Oct. 27, 2014, includes correcting and stabilizing erosion and sedimentation issues along a stretch of the Cahaba River from Cherokee Drive to the Civitan Bridge at Civitan Park. North Carolina-based North State Environmental was awarded the project by the city of Trussville with a low bid of $828,299.46 last year.
About 30 people attended December’s public tour of the project, which began near the Cherokee Drive bridge and ended at the Civitan Bridge. That’s about 3,200 feet of construction. Jennings and Eatman talked about stream structures such as boulder vanes, erosion and sedimentation control practices, invasive plant management and native plant strategies.
Eve Brantley, of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, said planting native trees and plants along the banks will lead to various leaves falling on the river and different insects making it home. She said this will create an “intricate and beautiful system.”
The purpose of the project is to improve water quality, habitat and stream stability of the Cahaba River, and provide a demonstration of urban natural channel design stream enhancement and stormwater management.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.
