With warmer weather, crews are beginning to build the rolling hills of the great lawn at the south end of the park – between the sea ramp and the condos. You can see the beginning of the topographical changes taking place in the picture above. Construction continues on the pedestrian bridge foundation and the excavation of the inlet. (Learn more about overall construction here.)
Excavators, loaders, bulldozers and six-wheeled dump trucks are relocating the massive piles of excavated materials on the south end (see pic above). Before the transformation of Ralph Wilson Park, the park was flat – you could see clear across it. Once complete, you will be able to meander through rolling hills. The hills, as well as the soccer fields, are being built up from material excavated from the inlet. Dredged materials from in front of the breakwall are being used to build the base of paths.
Crews are reinforcing the pedestrian bridge foundation by placing rebar and concrete for the abutment pile caps. The abutments are the structures built to support the weight and pressure of a bridge on either side. To date, 670 cubic yards of concrete, representing nearly 70 concrete trucks, have placed concrete on the north (4th street) and south (lakeside) side! This video highlights efforts on the foundation concrete placement.
Pictured below on the left is concrete being placed and the rebar reinforcement at the south abutment. On the right shows the same pile cap after concrete is cured and the wooden forms have been stripped. The pile cap pictured is a 2’ 6” thick slab of concrete.
The aerial view of the inlet above depicts the location of the box culvert in relation to the two hooks of armored stone forming the lakeside of the inlet (visible in the upper left.) The box culvert’s function is to ensure freshwater from the lake is constantly being exchanged with the inlet.
So far, about 140’ of the 165’ culvert has been installed. The remainder of the culvert will be placed once inlet excavation is complete. This video shows crews constructing the box culvert.
