Falls Area SingleTrack needed to remove one of the two bridges on the Leaders Park singletrack project. The five inches of rain received in about two hours a week or so ago overflowed the drainage ditch that cuts diagonally through Leaders Park. This high flow rate eroded the bank in some areas. One such place was the bank supporting one of the bridge abutments.
We assessed the situation. It was clear the bridge was unsafe given one abutment was almost floating in mid air. We dismantled this bridge last Saturday morning.
We have elected to replace the 30 foot long trusses with 50 foot long trusses and rebuild the bridge in the same location. By lengthening the bridge by 20 feet this will push the abutments well away from the drainage ditch’s edge and out of harm’s way.
The good news is we can reuse all the materials we dismantled with the exception of the trusses. The bad news is the 30 foot trusses were a donation – the 50 foot replacements will not be. We’ll reuse 100% of the wood deck and rails. But, we’ll need more.
We’ve calculated the replacement trusses and additional wood will cost $3,000.00. Falls Area SingleTrack, INC has not been in existence long enough to apply for 501(c)3 non profit status with the Internal Revenue Service. I trust this will not deter you from making a donation even though it cannot be used as a tax deduction.
Please consider making a donation to this project. Any amount will be fine. If you can spare $5 – great! If you can spare $500 – cool! Please make donations payable to Falls Area SingleTrack and mail them to:
FAST
PO Box 90144
Sioux Falls, SD 57109
Thank you in advance for your support!
Hi This is cody here. Are you guys still constructing the trails at leaders park? Also Have you considerd cleaning up the trails behind tuthill? Or asking to open Great Bear up to trailriders?
ReplyDeleteCody:
ReplyDeleteThe construction of trails is complete at Leaders Park - and has been for a year now. This spring there will be a big push to catch up on and sustain some maintenance effort.
April 20th will be our second 2013 trail maintenance day. We'll pick up trash.
Our third maintenance day will be to repair the bridge railings. Boards are cut and prepped and the day for this will be soon.
As far as new trail opportunities go - my thoughts are if we can't get enough energy and bodies to maintain what we have we should not pursue new opportunities.
There are definitely some opportunities that could and should be explored.
We welcome your thoughts and energy.
Michael, treasurer.