Rodney Pearson (left) and Mark Seder, Replacing the Sloped Steps at the South End of the Townsend River Walk & Arboretum
We knew that that the time had come to replace the stairs at the south entrance of the TRWA when the old railroad ties had started to crumble. The old steps were put in several years ago and were fairly steep with lots of loose gravel. They worked well but were a bit difficult to navigate. To transform this entrance we are using 4x6 beams, creating a step that is 4 ft. wide and most significantly making the steps level. We plan to have a combination of flat areas that are 4 ft. deep integrated with step that are 18 in. deep. The hope is that this will make it much easier with less of a risk of falling for folks entering and exiting the TRWA. One side of the steps will have crushed stone for bikes and the like to maneuver. On river side, of the steps, we plan on putting a rope railing so that there will be a bit of help in climbing and descending the stairs.
It will be a slow process with lots of digging, leveling and creating the stairs to go with the lay of hill. Mark started by laying out the first two 4 ft. deep stairs, while Mark & Rodney installed the 3rd step that was 18 in. deep. There is no where to go but up from here.
The top of the stairs will be finished with a 2 inch layer of crushed river stone.
The project end date is unknown since we don't know what we may run into, but the stairs will be filled as we proceed so that the entrance is still usable.
The Blount County Master Gardener's have contributed $500 to this project and will require at least another $800 to complete. To that end if you would like to contribute you can DONATE HERE!
The construction of the steps on the South end of the Arboretum in chronological order.
