Stream project in Annandale nears completion

The project to restore the Coons Branch stream in Annandale Community Park is ahead of schedule.

Workers have completed stabilizing the stream banks, says project manager Jasdeep Saini, of the Fairfax County Stormwater Planning Division. However, the fence around the project area won’t be removed and the stream won’t be open to the public until late fall.

All that’s left to be done is to complete installation of the new pedestrian bridge connecting Hirst Drive with the park and finish landscaping,

The stream needed to be restored because the channel was actively eroding, resulting in nearly vertical stream banks, Saini said. The project restored 1,600 linear feet of the stream channel between Hummer Road and Lafayette Village Drive using natural channel design principles.

Workers lined the stream with rock structures, disconnected some pipes, and reset other pipes.

Coon Branch drains into Accontink Creek. The project was aimed at improving channel alignment and bank stability, improving water quality, and restoring the ecological function of the stream corridor.

The baseball field adjacent to the stream was decommissioned and that land is being reforested. According to Saini, the field wasn’t used much and often flooded.

The project’s cost — $800,000 for design and $3.4 million for construction – was funded through the county’s storm water service district tax.