Following is a recap and status of the ongoing Lake Spivey silt removal project.

February 1 - 11

Work officially began on Tuesday February 1, 2010 as McEachern Dredging staged their equipment and dug a release trench to drain the water beside the peninsula. On Wednesday February 2, 2011 they started removal of sediment from the Forest Estates canal -- placing the removed silt on the peninsula. McEachern continued to work in the canal and completed the removal of 390 cubic yards of soil on Friday February 11, 2011. All work was done with one long reach front-end loader.

RCI engineers inspected the work and signed off on the completion.


February 12 -18

McEachern Dredging staged their equipment -- one long reach front-end loader and two dump trucks -- at RMS-6 to begin the removal of 791 cubic yards of silt. Muddy conditions rendered the peninsula temporarily inaccessible to trucks so in order to keep the project moving forward, dirt was instead hauled to Walker Nursery.  Mr. Walker was able to establish a gravel trap to assure that dump truck tires were sufficiently cleaned before re-entering Walt Stephens Rd. This portion of the project was wrapped up on February 18, 2011.  

RCI Engineering will take measurements next week and certify that the work was completed as outlined in the contract.

In addition, LSCA has contacted the Corp of Engineers to request permission for two additional dredging areas -- the area in front of The Landings Subdivision (1,492 cubic yards) and the Lost Valley canal (333 cubic yards). We should have an answer and direction early next week on the feasibility of adding these areas.

February 19 - 26

Completed silt removal of two small areas -- RMS-2 and South Bay -- totaling just over 100 cubic yards. At this point McEachern staged the rest of their equipment - three long reach front-end loaders -- at the Bay View Marina and began work on the Bay View Marina and canal. Weather permitting; the Bay View project should be completed by March 11, 2011.  

Next steps:  McEachern will be moving to Rum and Vaughan Creek sites.

 February 27 - March 5

The Bay View canal and Marina were completed ahead of the March 11 anticipated date and on Friday March 4, 2011; the dredging equipment was moved to the Vaughn Creek sites to begin removing 9,000+ cubic yards of sediment. McEachern Dredging is utilizing three long reach front-end loaders and two tracked dump trucks.  Due to rain and wet conditions, no work could be performed on Saturday, March 5.

March 6 - March 12

Unfortunately four out of the six working days were rainouts. McEachern Dredging utilized one of the rain days to reposition their equipment from Bay View to Rum and Vaughn Creeks. They also added one long reach excavator and purchased a sweeper truck to keep the roadways clean.

They were able to work Tuesday and began building access roads in the lakebed by utilizing support mats.  The heavy rains on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday washed out most of the work performed on Tuesday.  They spent the majority of Saturday repairing the roadways and they were able to restart the Rum Creek project.

March 13 - March 26

McEachern Dredge now has their full compliment of equipment available for the project. This includes (5) long reach excavators, (3) tracked dump trucks and (2) round wheeled dump trucks. With their equipment now available and on site they are able to work both the Rum and Vaughn Creek project areas.

The Rum Creek sediment areas were almost completed with the exception of the 100' sediment basin within Rum Creek. Their goal is to have Rum Creek finalized by Monday�removing a total of 5,179 cubic yards. They have completed approximately 30% of Vaughn Creek silt removal.

Next week their plans are to move equipment being used at Rum Creek to the North Shore Project and continue to work on the completion of Vaughn Creek.

As of today they have had a total of (16) non-workable days. Even with inability to perform work on the rain days. McEachern is still confident that they can have the sediment removal project completed by the April 15, 2011 dead line.

March 27 - April 2

Monday the equipment was moved and stage at North Shore Canal to begin dredging. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday no work was preformed due to rain. On Thursday March 31, 2011 LSCA received the approval letter from the COE to add the two additional dredging sites, Lost Valley Marina and The Landings. April 1, 2011 the peninsula job site was issued a STOP WORK ORDER by the EPD. The reason was a Lake Spivey resident issued a formal compliant.

April 3 - April 16

No silt could be be deposited on the Camp Rd peninsula nor could work be preformed on the seawall. McEachern dredging continued working on the North Shore Canal, The Landings and Lost Valley. The sediment spoils were hauled to homeowners and Walkers Nursery. On Friday March 15, 2011 the STOP WORK ORDER was removed and LSCA was allowed to work on the peninsula.

April 17 - April 23

The Landings, Lost Valley and North Shore dredging projects were completed on Tuesday April 19, 2011. Wednesday McEachern continued to work on the Vaughn Creek project while re-staging equipment used for the other projects to Vaughn Creek and the Camp Road Peninsula. Due to the stop work order and the new 25' buffer zone, the original Camp Rd Peninsula could no longer be utilized. McEachern Dredging spend two days constructing a new access road. The cost for this additional work was $4,525.00 bring the total cost of the buffer zone compliance to over $20,000.00.

On Saturday April 23, 2011 the spillway valve was closed to allow the lake to begin to refill!

April 24 - April 30

McEachern Dredging continued work on the Vaughn Creek project. Only one day of work was missed due to day. 

May 1 - May 15

Vaughn Creek sediment removal and RMS-8 access road completed. All dredging has been completed.

June 17

All work has been completed including final grading... seeding will begin next week

 Seawall Update

There was not a lot of visible activity to report for the first few weeks� however Vertical Earth did present LSCA detailed construction plans and wall drawings that were reviewed and approved by both RCI Engineering and LSCA.  Once approved, initial prep work began.  Vertical Earth's Geo Engineers reviewed the soil report provided by RCI Engineering in order to address the pre-construction work and wall footings needed to support the wall.

Vertical Earth has continued to make steady progress on the wall and is on schedule to be out of the lake bed by the agreed upon date of April 15, 2011. The Stop Work Order has delayed the completion until May 9, 2011

April 1 - April 23

No work could be performed due to lack of access due the EPD stop work order and the lack of an access road.

April 24 - April 30

Vertical Earth had a survey stake out the position of the new Camp Road Peninsula heavy equipment access ramp. They then dug out the ramp area and placed the footings. On Wednesday and Thursday they constructed the forms. Friday the concrete was poured and Steve Schroeder inspected the final product. It met all our requirements.

May 1 - May 21

Seawall and Sidewalks were completed

June 17

All work has been completed including inspection by LSCA hired engineers.

Other News

Two tree removal projects have been initiated as well.  Trees situated in a low-lying area dividing the landmass of the Camp Road Peninsula were cleared and removed.  The low area is being filled with sediment to level the peninsula.  This tree removal will also enhance the view of adjacent property owners.

The second tree removal area is located inside the mitigated lake area that was approved by the COE.  It was necessary to remove a stand of small trees impeding the placement of the new seawall that crosses what was once lake bed.

All tree work will be completed by March 11, 2011.

I encourage you to drive to the Forest Estates Marina and look for yourself� it provides a great view of the progress of the Seawall project