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.
Great news! And ahead of schedule? That never happens!
$4M for a stream?!?!
Ditto
Foolish Fairfax county hasn’t learned the lessons that Alexandrian’s did – “natural channel design” is just a propaganda ploy used by billion dollar companies to suck up money. There is nothing natural about filling in stream beds with tons of rock, burying all the critters and plants, cutting down old trees and replacing them with young ones that will die because there is no watering done to ensure they survive. What is “natural” is the erosion but if they are so concerned about erosion – I have a bigger project for you to fill in out in Arizona. Not sure the National Park service will approve, but hey – it has dangerous steep walls so better get at it.