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11/01/2017 09:30 AMWith the summer season now over, a few projects are underway at Hammonasset Beach State Park. The Army Corps of Engineers is currently working to replenish sand on the beach and members of the Shoreline Greenway Trail (SGT) are preparing for repairs to part of the trail in the park.
Those familiar with the SGT in the park know that not all of the trail is made of natural earth. SGT Vice-chair and Madison trail group Chair Virginia Raff said some of the decking tiles are not holding up.
“The ThruFlow tiles of the walkway are cracking,” she said. “Apparently there was a time when the manufacturer was using a different ingredient in the composition of the material. We used these tiles in order to satisfy state wetlands requirements and the Army Corps of Engineers. [The tiles] let light through to the marsh below to substantially reduce the effect of the walkway on the marsh. These same tiles of an earlier vintage were used on the observation deck at Meigs Point and they are fine, so we are expecting the fix to be fine.”
Raff said the replacement of the tiles comes at no cost as the manufacturer is replacing the materials. However, volunteers are needed to replace the tiles and she is unsure of a timeline for completion at this point.
“How much time it will takes depends on many things including how many volunteers can come out to help, weather, etc.,” she said. “…We could use volunteers especially with good carpentry skills. Some of the same volunteers who built the walkway will be working on the repairs. Only some of the tiles were manufactured during the critical time, so this will not be a total replacement.”
Work on the trail began Thursday, Oct. 26 at 10 a.m. and will continue for the necessary amount of time depending on volunteers, according to Raff. She said while replacement of some tiles is needed, the trail is not a safety hazard and is still open to the public.
“I want to stress that the walkway is still usable and will be closed only intermittently during the times we are working,” she said. “We will post signs at both ends to warn trail users. The trail will be open most of the time in the coming weeks…The gate from the trail into the campground will be open while work is going on so people can still walk up from Webster Point Road and detour into the campground.”
Those visiting the trail or Hammonasset Park will have also noticed a large vessel off the coast in Long Island Sound and earth-moving equipment on the beaches. Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) spokesman Dennis Schain said the equipment is part of an Army Corps of Engineers project to dredge the channel in the lower Housatonic River near Stamford and deposit the sand on Hammonasset Beach.
“Plans call for bringing 300,000 cubic yards of dredged sediments up to Hammonasset by barge to be used to re-nourish West and Middle Beach,” he said. “Those beaches lose lots of sand due to wave action. At times in past we have had to purchase sand; now with this dredging project, it is available to us free of charge.”
Schain said sand on the beach is replaced from time to time as needed and as budgets allow. He said all dredge material has been tested to be certain it is safe for reuse on the beach.
“Reuse—or what we actually call beneficial reuse—of dredged materials is an important strategy,” he said. “Finding suitable uses for dredged material avoids the need to place it at open water disposal sites in the Sound.”
For more information on the Shoreline Greenway Trail, visit www.shorelinegreenwaytrail.org or email madison2shorelinegreenwaytrail.org.