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Home My WebLink About20071818 Ver 2_General Correspondence_20080715M~ DUKE. LAW Ryke Longest, Director Orange County Commission 200 South Cameron Street Post Office Box 8181 Hillsborough, North Carolina 2?278 Environmental Law & Policy Clinic Box 90360 July 15, 2008 Durham, NC 27708-0360 Telephone: (919) G 13-7207 Fax: (9191 G 13-7ZGZ RE: Follow up to your resolution on TIP B-2418: Turkey Farm Road Bridge Replacement Project Dear Commissioners, Thanks again to you for acting on a resolution of support at your meeting on April first. On behalf of the New Hope Creek Corridor Advisory Committee I wanted to let you know how matters have progressed since we last spoke. The Committee, the North Carolina Division of Water Quality and the NC DOT have settled the cases per the terms of a consent order. As conditions of the settlement, NCDOT has provided the Committee with a memorandum outlining consideration of alternative designs and has participated fully in a meeting at the bridge site with members of the Committee to discuss protective measures during construction. The meeting was very productive and we have thanked NCDOT for their participation and cooperation. Other than a few of us picking up some chiggers, everything went very well. Based upon our observations at the meeting, we prepared recommendations for measures to be taken during construction to protect the Creek and its resources. We have forwarded these in a letter to NCDOT per the terms of the Consent Order. We have attached a copy of this letter for your information. We will be discussing these recommendations at a public meeting with NCDOT and the Division of Water Quality on July 30`" We thank you for your support of this process and for all the things you have done to protect this Creek. John Kent, Bob Healy and other members of the Committee will continue to update you on progress, I am certain. We look forward to seeing the bridge replaced without damaging the habitat it inhabits. Very Truly Yours, Ryke Longest Encl ~~ ~~~J~~ Ll 1~Y V Environmental L.~w & Policy Clinic _.. Box 90360 Durham, NC 27708-0360 Ryke Longest, Director Telephone: (919) G 13-7207 Fax: (919) G 13-7262 July 1 S, 2008 Dr. Greg Thorpe, Manager Project Development and Environmental Analysis Highway Building, 1 South Wilmington Street 1 S48 Mail Service Center Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1548 RE: Comments on TIP B-2418: Turkey Farm Road Bridge Replacement Project Dear Dr. Thorpe, Thanks again to you and your staff for meeting with us at the bridge site on July 1 lth. On behalf of New Hope Creek Corridor Advisory Committee I wanted to let you know that we appreciate the work that you and your staff are doing to protect this precious resource. I greatly appreciate the good turnout and the time dedicated to help us as we work to preserve this high quality creek habitat. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the latest plans for the Turkey Farm Road Bridge Replacement Project. We are pleased to offer the following comments and suggestions. These are arranged in the order of project phases and not in any order of priority. Demolition and Preconstruction Phase Comments We make the following suggestions and requests, in addition to the permit conditions and prior commitments regarding the preconstruction and demolition phase: 1) Please make certain that the contractor notifies: John Alderman, John Kent and Ryke Longest by e-mail at least one day prior to the commencement of bridge demolition. 2) On the existing bents, we request that you cut the existing concrete footers off, as opposed to rocking them out of place using heavy equipment. 3) Insure that asphalt from bridge deck does not fall into the stream as it is taken down. Use netting under the bridge and sweep loose asphalt up from the bridge deck as it is demolished. 4) Insure that the Contractor is aware that the mussel bed extends within the construction footprint. S) All trees needing removal should be cut off so as to leave a viable stump. Dr. Greg Thorpe July 15, 2008 Page 2 6) Install hardware cloth, tacked down in a U-shape around the work areas on each side of the creek with gravel on the front and back faces of the hardware cloth. Use silt fence cloth type material on fill material until it can be stabilized by appropriate vegetation. Utilize a rock work pad under the heavy equipment. Construction Phase Comments We make the following suggestions and requests, in addition to the permit conditions and prior commitments regarding the Construction Phase: 1) Please make certain that the contractor notifies John Alderman, John Kent, Ryke Longest, Judy Radcliffe, and appropriate NCWRC personnel by e-mail at least one day prior to the commencement of bridge construction. 2) During drill work, the drill shaft slurry will be transferred to appropriate bladders and removed from site. 3) Please make certain that NC DOT notifies John Alderman, John Kent and Ryke Longest by e-mail when an inspection is triggered by the one half inch rainfall threshold. 4) Should we discover problems during the construction, we will contact Division staff directly before contacting the contractor. 5) During all phases of this project, we request that NCDOT assign a staff biologist to weekly monitor aquatic habitats down creek from the project site and facilitate appropriate management should any problems arise. 6) Following construction, we request that you utilize native seed mixes wherever possible for bank stabilization. 7) Carefully remove silt fence to prevent spilling accumulated debris, and remove accumulated debris from site. We trust that these comments will be given careful consideration. We know that you, your staff and the staff of DWQ are committed to making this project a success. Should you have any questions about these suggestions, please do not hesitate to call. We look forward to working with you to protect this Creek. Very Truly Yours, Ryke Longest Cc: Orange County Board of Commissioners