Great Response for HRWC Road Building Workshop

Participants at the road building workshop on March 12 at the Brasstown Community Center.

The Brasstown Community Center's Scrogg's Room was filled to capacity on Wednesday, March 12th as 27 developers, grading contractors, realtors, and subdivision road supervisors learned about building better private access roads in the mountains. The daylong workshop was sponsored by the Hiwassee River Watershed Coalition and funded by a Section 319 grant from the NC Division of Water Quality Nonpoint Source Pollution Program. It was free to participants and lunch was provided.

Eroding roads and cut and fill slopes associated with them are a significant source of excess sediment in streams and lakes in the upper Hiwassee River basin. Excess sediment clogs the gills of fish and other aquatic life and also negatively impacts spawning and feeding. The objectives of the workshop were to increase awareness about these problems and provide participants with guidelines for better private access road design and construction.

The workshop was held in coordination with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Cherokee County Soil & Water Conservation District in North Carolina. Session leaders included former NCDOT road maintenance engineer, Philip Moore, NRCS District Conservationist, Glenn Carson, and Cherokee County Ag Cost Share Technician, Michael Stiles.

Philip Moore demonstrates how to use a clinometer to establish grade during the field session.

Due to space restrictions and the nature of the field session, registrations were limited at this first workshop. However, HRWC received an overwhelming response and there are 15 people currently on a waiting list for a second workshop. Although the majority of speakers have agreed to provide an encore, a date has not yet been confirmed. Anyone who is interested in participating may contact the HRWC office to be notified when future workshop dates are available: lgray@hrwc.net or (828) 837- 5414.

The workshop agenda and registration brochure can be accessed online at: http://www.hrwc.net/roadbuilding. htm. 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.