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Monday, September 26, 2011

Give Me Sand, Lots Of Sand.



If you happened to miss the biggest sandbox in the history of Dekalb County, suffice to say that many of the Pine Lake kids did NOT. If there are photos of the beach frolic that happened several times over the past weekend, please post to the FaceBook site!


This morning a single bulldozer started spreading the sand across the beach and swimming area, beginning a smooth and graduated slope into the new depth.

The work continues on several fronts: in addition to the beach area and the road work, the new surface for the trail on top of the impoundment (the "back berm") should be laid this week.


Even though the lake of LakeFest won't be in attendance, Floatzilla rages on as Boatzilla. Original "walking boat" designs will enter the competition this year: think "walk or run" instead of "sink or swim."

Become the Boat!

Monday, September 19, 2011

System of a Down



Down goes the road: this creates a spillway for any future flood events. The previous road height created a block in the path of overflow.



Down goes the pitch of the northern stream bank: the finished stream will handle creek flow completely differently from the previous vertical banks. The "new" creek better accommodates rising waters, slows down the rate of flood current, creates better habitat, and addresses erosion problems on both banks.


















Down goes the bed of the swimming area: in the next several workdays the engineers will determine the water level at "full pool," which will be demarcated by string attached to posts in the lake bed. Within the next two weeks we can also expect the delivery and installation of fresh beach sand.



Pound by pound and inch by inch the dirt is removed, graded, raked, sculpted, hauled, trenched. Slowly our precious lake takes shape.












Monday, September 12, 2011

All Quiet On The Eastern Front


Why are the machines sitting idle?


On August 22nd the city council voted in a special session to include the swimming area in the scope of the streambank restoration project (a.k.a. "The Dredge"). The army corps of engineers determined that shaping the interior banks of the berm, clearing out under the bridges, and removing silt from the bed of the swimming area qualified as part of the project: this means that the federal money CAN be used to do this work. It will be paid for by the grant.

As part of this additional work, permitting specific to the swim and beach area must be completed before the machines can move in and begin the work. This paperwork turnaround is estimated to take ten days.

This week we can expect to see progress on the north bank of the stream (the house side), where clearing and brush cutting has already started. By mid-week the county will begin preliminaries for adjusting the water line that runs beside the portion of street slated to be lowered for the creation of a spillway (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuPgsABKBmE).

The result? By the time Thanksgiving rolls around the city will begin to see the rewards of the hard work, patience, and difficult choices (e.g.,the necessary tree removal) Come summertime 2012 when we are swimming in a cleaner lake with a newly poured beach of white sand, we'll all be reaping the great benefits of our vastly improved environment.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Phil Explains:Lowering the Road Bed


The latest in the "Phil Explains" videos: Phil describes one of the next steps in the Pine Lake streambank restoration project---watch it here: