SCWA board member Jim Pillsbury would like to see physically challenged people streamside, fishing and enjoying being by the water, especially at the Lynch Field recreation center. This project involves putting in a gentle grade so that physically challenged individuals can get to the water.
In the meantime, there are experimental bank stabilization projects underway to make sure there is a streamside for people to enjoy. The material tried most recently along Jack's Run is a product called GeoWeb™. It was installed last fall along the bank upstream of the bridge to the Veterans Memorial Swimming Pool at Lynch Field.
GeoWeb™ is comprised of plastic compartments, similar to the dividers in boxes of fragile Christmas ornaments. "The honeycomb cells are each about 8-inch square and the cells are 8 inches deep," explained Pillsbury. The cells are filled with stones through which the ground water flows. The sheets can be layered to vary the thickness of the retaining wall.
"The first layer of GeoWeb™ was stretched out flat and staked to the streambed. We then filled the cells with No. 2B crushed stone. Once the bottom layer was done, we stretched out another layer of GeoWeb™ on top of it, filling the cells with stone as before." Volunteers have installed a total of six layers, stepping each layer back about 8 inches.
Working with Pillsbury on the project were Mark Killar, SCWA board member; Dan Griffith, Chris Droste, Craig Barras and Tony Quadro from the Westmoreland Conservation District; Wes Gordon, conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service; Nevin Ulery, Penn's Corner RC&D coordinator; and Dave Higinbotham, Rick Herd, and Dan Hamrick from Allegheny Power.
The SCWA has constructed several innovative stream bank stabilizations at Lynch Field in cooperation with the City of Greensburg and with funding from the Heinz Foundation and the Katherin Mabis McKenna Foundation."
"Other stabilization methods each have their plusses and minuses, but at Lynch, they are all working well," Pillsbury said.
As such the Association shall use its resources to educate the citizens of the watershed as to sound environmental practices. In addition, the Association will seek out and cooperate with government agencies, interested organizations, businesses and individuals to implement programs to improve water quality and encourage proper land use.