$10 million Accotink dredging project ends
By James Cullum
After three years of mechanical breakdowns, an additional influx of $1.5 million and a few high-powered storms, the $10 million dredging project at Lake Accotink has concluded.
"It's been a lengthy process," said project manager John Lehman.
When the contract was awarded three years ago, many sections of the lake were a mere 2 feet deep. Over the last 40 years, sedimentation reduced what had been a 100-acre lake to about 50 acres.
In the end, 193,000 cubic yards of sediment has been sucked up from the riverbed and transported through nearly three miles of pipeline to the disposal site at the Shirley Industrial Complex. It will take another year for the off-site silt to be de-watered.
The average depth of the lake is now 4 feet, with some areas nearly 10 feet deep.
"The quality of our interpretive tours has increased dramatically," said park manager Tawny Hammond. The touring barge "is accessible to more than 80 acres of lake now. For the first time since I've been here, we'll be able to get up close and personal with the beavers and muskrats and other animals around the lake."
The project took longer than anticipated because tree stumps and other organic material jammed the cutter heads and stopped the lines, causing some shutdowns.
Also, a major storm in June 2006 resulted in a large amount of silt flowing into the lake, further reducing water depth. A drought then slowed the effort; water is needed for a successful hydraulic dredge.
Although the major work has been finished and heavy equipment was removed this week, next spring the park authority will continue the dredging on a smaller scale around the marina and dock.
This is the third time the lake has been dredged since the county took it over in 1965.