Mountain Road Building Workshop

On Wednesday, March 12th, the Hiwassee River Watershed Coalition will hold a daylong workshop for developers, clearing and grading contractors, and property owners that build or maintain private access roads. The workshop will start at 8:30AM at the Brasstown Community Center and wrap-up at 4:30PM following an afternoon field session. The event is free for participants thanks to grant funding from the NC Division of Water Quality, Section 319 Nonpoint Source Pollution Program.

Most of the development that is currently being conducted in the upper Hiwassee River watershed involves partitioning of lots, building roads and installing utilities. In many cases, the roads are private access roads that are not constructed according to state guidelines and the responsibility for road maintenance lies with the landowners. Sometimes people buy mountain property, but wait several years to build a house. Because of these trends, most of the active erosion associated with development in the area is associated with poor road design, construction, and lack of the required continued maintenance by property owners.

Registration for the free workshop is open to all; although preference will be given to developers and clearing and grading contractors. Session leaders include former NCDOT road maintenance engineer, Philip Moore and NRCS District Conservationist, Glenn Carson. Lunch is provided and participants will receive a free copy of The Layman's Guide to Private Access Road Construction in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, Second Edition (2005). The workshop is limited to the 25 participants; however, if there is enough additional interest, HRWC will consider holding a second workshop in early April.

The workshop agenda and registration brochure can be accessed online at: http://www.hrwc.net/roadbuilding. htm or you may call the HRWC office at 828-837- 5414 for more information. The registration deadline is March 10th. The Hiwassee River Watershed Coalition is a local nonprofit organization whose mission is to facilitate water quality improvements in streams and lakes in the upper Hiwassee River watershed.