Construction underway on phase two of North Woods project in Avondale Estates
Phase two of the North Woods stormwater project in Avondale Estates includes adding rain gardens and a wooden walking path. Photo courtesy of the city of Avondale Estates.
Avondale Estates, GA — Construction has started on phase two of the North Woods stormwater project in Avondale Estates. The work is scheduled to continue through the fall, according to an announcement from the city.
“Community members will notice large equipment, the clearing of underbrush and tree removal as work begins to stabilize the impaired headwaters and bank of Cobbs Creek and create the rain gardens and path,” the announcement states. “The trees being removed were reviewed by multiple arborists. Many of the trees being taken down were identified as diseased or in poor health. Some of the downed trees will be repurposed in the construction of the rain gardens.”
Over 100 native trees, shrubs and perennials will be planted in the North Woods when the rain gardens are installed.
The Avondale Estates City Commission approved the construction contract in May. The commission awarded a contract to JOC Construction in the amount of $1.15 million to build phase two of the North Woods stormwater project. A contingency of $115,000 has also been requested, bringing the total cost to $1.27 million.
Phase one of the project has been completed and included building recreational trails, which connect the sidewalk on Berkeley Road to the existing path on the north side of Lake Avondale.
Construction of phase two will include adding rain gardens and a wooden walking path.
“There are two major parts of the second phase. The first part is a nature trail and boardwalk,” said Kristin Moretz, capital projects construction and maintenance director, at the May 10 city commission meeting. “We’re going to enhance the culvert…We’re going to add riprap, add velocity reduction devices.”
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, riprap “is a layer of large stones that protects soil from erosion in areas of high or concentrated flows. It is especially useful for armoring channel and ditch banks, among other features.”
Part of the boardwalk will be elevated to save some large trees in the area.
“As you go farther south, we have three separate rain gardens,” Moretz said. “There’ll be plantings with them. There’s a small overlook, so you can sit and check out the rain gardens from a higher vantage point.”
There will also a large outfall with riprap, which will take away the main failure point of the North Woods is.
“There’s a very large pit that’s eroding away,” Moretz said. “That pit will be restabilized, compacted, and now all of this water is essentially redirected so that it’s leaving at a slower velocity with water treatment at this lower point, much closer to the area that’s more stabilized, it’s more flat, so the velocity is not so intense.”
The city has reminded the community to stay out of the area during the work, as the North Woods is an active construction site. The paths around the lake will remain open.
For more information about the project, click here.
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