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| Taking a break for a crew photo on the Rhode Island project! |
Hello trails world!
I have been out of touch and away from my computer for much
of the summer traveling alongside a very busy Trail Crew. As I mentioned in a previous post, our trail
crew goes by a variety of names, including (but not limited to) the Roving
Conservation Crew, Roving Contract Crew, Contract Crew, RCC, and one season
even referred to themselves as the Rock Pile… For time’s sake, and to continue
with the AMC’s long standing tradition of using three letter acronyms, I will
from here on out refer to them as the RCC.
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| Some of the Equipment used for building the accessible trail. |
As mentioned above, the RCC has been very busy this summer,
in fact for the first time since we began this program, we have been able to
run multiple crews for the majority of the season. We have had many projects
under our belts, but there is one project in particular I wanted to bring to
everyone’s attention, The Camp Meehan/Governor Notte Park walking trails:
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| Preparing a log stringer for the bridge |
With fear of some of the last remaining open space in the
City of North Providence Rhode Island being sold to developers, the City was
able to purchase the 15 acre parcel known as Camp Meehan/Governor Notte
Park. Soon thereafter, the city
contacted the AMC to discuss building/upgrading the trail system around the
property. A plan was set in place, and
in May of 2015, the RCC broke ground on this project. Over the next nine weeks the RCC used
excavators and skid steers, rakes and shovels, chainsaws and skill saws, and
good ole’ hammer and nails to construct a series of universally accessible
trails, natural surface trails, ramps, stairs and bridges to the highest level
of AMC standards. The project was
completed just before the parks 4th of July Celebration. Camp Meehan/Governor
Notte Park is now a real gem for locals and visitors alike; whether a visitor
to the park would like to go for a nice easy stroll on a hardened surface
accessible trail, or venture off into
the woods on a natural surface trail, this little park in the heart of Rhode
Island now has something to offer any visitor!
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| Bridge, in progress. |
I could continue on about the many projects we’ve worked on
this year, but this Rhode Island project was a huge undertaking and worthy of
mention, so for now, happy Trails. And if you find yourself in Rhode Island
this summer, go check out some of the RCC’s work! I think you will be
impressed!
