HomeMy WebLinkAbout20210046 Ver 1_photos of Hartzog Ford Bridge support removal_20211029
Wanucha, Dave
From:Hining, Kevin J
Sent:Friday, October 29, 2021 12:46 PM
To:Wanucha, Dave
Subject:photos of Hartzog Ford Bridge support removal
Attachments:Before photo - Just before bridge supports were removed.jpg; Photo 1 - Setting up
turbidity curtain for first support removal.jpg; Photo 2 - Curtain in place just before
removal of first support.jpg; Photo 3 - turbidity going under curtain during
removal.jpg; Photo 4 - first support removal.jpg; Photo 5 - first support removal.jpg;
Photo 6 - third support removal.jpg; Photo 7 - third support removal.jpg; Photo 8 -
trackhoe moving from third to second support.jpg; Photo 9 - second support
removal.jpg; Photo 10 - 300 meters downstream, 1.5 hours after removal started.jpg;
Photo 11 - 0.5 miles downstream, 1.5 hours after removal started.jpg; Photo 12 - 1
mile downstream 1.5 hours after removal started.jpg
Hey Dave,
Sorry for the delay getting these photos to you – the week has flown buy….
Hopefully the photo titles explain everything. We setup and tried a turbidity curtain at first, but it wasn’t really
capturing the sediment. Not to say it wouldn’t work in other places, but honestly, we really didn’t have a way of
securing it for the middle support and water was probably to swift on the third support as well. We had a tough time as
it was, setting it up for the first support given the current, so we pulled it out after the first support was removed.
In short, we went in with a trackhoe equipped with a hammer and collapsed all three piers. After the piers were
hammered into smaller pieces, we reached what debris we could from both banks with a trackhoe. We then took a
trackhoe into the water to retrieve the final large pieces. I plan to go by early next week to see how the removal of the
smaller pieces went – they sent a couple folks out in waders with a john boat (no machinery/equipment in the water
this time) and filled it full of smaller pieces earlier this week. Our construction supervisor visited yesterday before the
rain started and indicated that most of the remaining pieces had been retrieved. Following the recent rain, I’m hoping
you won’t even be able to tell the bridge supports were ever there.
The entire removal took < 2 hrs. I visited several spots downstream during the removal, but long enough after it started
to capture the turbidity levels (meaning the sediment would have had time to travel that far). You could tell something
was going on 300 m below the work areas, as there was some turbidity, but very minor. There were little to no signs of
turbidity further downstream. As you noticed, the pier drilling probably caused more turbidity than the bridge support
removal. I’m confident a causeway installation and removal would have resulted in more turbidity than we observed, at
this location.
Big thanks for letting us give this a try. I know it won’t work in all cases, but this seemed liked the perfect place to do
it. I really think it was way more environmentally friendly than the causeways would have been.
I will see if I can email some videos next. If not, I can share them somehow….
Thanks and have a good weekend!
Kevin
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Kevin Hining
Division 11 Environmental Supervisor
North Carolina Department of Transportation
828-386-7202 cell
kjhining@ncdot.gov
801 Statesville Rd.
PO Box 250
North Wilkesboro, NC 28659
Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the
North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
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Email correspondence to and from this sender is subject to the N.C. Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
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