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This will have few impacts to visitors at our site except those who enjoy fishing at the confluence of the James and Appomattox or just enjoy walking around the rivers. We are still open 9-5 daily.
01/22/2007
Manor undergoes $1.3 million project to protect the grounds
BY T. DEVON ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
HOPEWELL — Construction has begun on a $1.3 million project to save the bluff on the grounds of Appomattox Manor from slipping into the water below.
This process, which has been happening naturally for thousands of years, was recently exacerbated by 2003’s Hurricane Isabel, said Dave Shockley, chief of resource management of the Petersburg National Battlefield.
“It really hit us in different ways,” he said.
The James and Appomattox rivers rose over low riprap surrounding the bluff and ate away at soft soil at its base. Water percolating through the bluff and pouring over the top added to the problem of erosion.
From the path at the water’s edge, the effects of erosion are obvious.
There are several bare patches of land where pieces of the bluff sheared off, taking vegetation, including trees, with it. A line of debris along the trail marks where the rivers frequently rise over the riprap and wash away the cliff side. At the top of the bluff, a section of a garage had to be removed when the edge of the bluff retreated to less than 3 feet from the structure.
Generally, Shockley said, the National Park Service would let nature run its course but, in this situation, they could be losing more than just dirt. “We’re also losing potential artifacts,” he said.
Appomattox Manor was first settled by the British in the early 1600s. It was owned by Dr. Richard Eppes during the Civil War when it was used as the headquarters of Ulysses S. Grant during the Siege of Petersburg.
Archaeological tests have shown that the bluff has been frequented by humans for at least 9,000 years. The bluff’s erosion could be washing artifacts into the James River.
“There’s so much that dates before 1864, 1865,” Shockley said.
“We don’t want to lose what’s under the ground.”
To protect the ground, the Army Corps of Engineers created a construction plan to combat the erosion of the bluff.
The riprap and the trail will be raised 5 feet in an effort to keep the rivers from reaching the bluff. From the side of the trail, a 9-foot retaining wall will keep soil from washing off the bluff. From the top of the wall, a 2-to-1 incline will be built up to the remaining height of the bluff.
The project, which will span about 450 feet along the steepest and tallest portions of the bluff, will be built to allow water to continue to flow naturally from the top of the bluff into the rivers below.
When the project is completed, Shockley said it should blend in with the landscape. The retaining wall will be niched to allow plants to be installed that will mask its construction.
“We wanted it to look as natural as possible for anyone coming up the river,” he said.
The entire project will take between six and eight months to complete, Shockley said, and will require the closing of the section of the trail in the project zone.
This restoration project is the first phase in stabilizing the bluff. In 2010, there is another project scheduled to extend the raised shoreline and retaining wall.
T. DeVon Robinson may be reached at 722-5160 or at trobinson@progress-index.com.
Online at: http://www.progress-index.com/site/news.asp?brd=2271
01/22/2007
Manor undergoes $1.3 million project to protect the grounds
BY T. DEVON ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
HOPEWELL — Construction has begun on a $1.3 million project to save the bluff on the grounds of Appomattox Manor from slipping into the water below.
This process, which has been happening naturally for thousands of years, was recently exacerbated by 2003’s Hurricane Isabel, said Dave Shockley, chief of resource management of the Petersburg National Battlefield.
“It really hit us in different ways,” he said.
The James and Appomattox rivers rose over low riprap surrounding the bluff and ate away at soft soil at its base. Water percolating through the bluff and pouring over the top added to the problem of erosion.
From the path at the water’s edge, the effects of erosion are obvious.
There are several bare patches of land where pieces of the bluff sheared off, taking vegetation, including trees, with it. A line of debris along the trail marks where the rivers frequently rise over the riprap and wash away the cliff side. At the top of the bluff, a section of a garage had to be removed when the edge of the bluff retreated to less than 3 feet from the structure.
Generally, Shockley said, the National Park Service would let nature run its course but, in this situation, they could be losing more than just dirt. “We’re also losing potential artifacts,” he said.
Appomattox Manor was first settled by the British in the early 1600s. It was owned by Dr. Richard Eppes during the Civil War when it was used as the headquarters of Ulysses S. Grant during the Siege of Petersburg.
Archaeological tests have shown that the bluff has been frequented by humans for at least 9,000 years. The bluff’s erosion could be washing artifacts into the James River.
“There’s so much that dates before 1864, 1865,” Shockley said.
“We don’t want to lose what’s under the ground.”
To protect the ground, the Army Corps of Engineers created a construction plan to combat the erosion of the bluff.
The riprap and the trail will be raised 5 feet in an effort to keep the rivers from reaching the bluff. From the side of the trail, a 9-foot retaining wall will keep soil from washing off the bluff. From the top of the wall, a 2-to-1 incline will be built up to the remaining height of the bluff.
The project, which will span about 450 feet along the steepest and tallest portions of the bluff, will be built to allow water to continue to flow naturally from the top of the bluff into the rivers below.
When the project is completed, Shockley said it should blend in with the landscape. The retaining wall will be niched to allow plants to be installed that will mask its construction.
“We wanted it to look as natural as possible for anyone coming up the river,” he said.
The entire project will take between six and eight months to complete, Shockley said, and will require the closing of the section of the trail in the project zone.
This restoration project is the first phase in stabilizing the bluff. In 2010, there is another project scheduled to extend the raised shoreline and retaining wall.
T. DeVon Robinson may be reached at 722-5160 or at trobinson@progress-index.com.
Online at: http://www.progress-index.com/site/news.asp?brd=2271
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