Demopolis’ greatest resource, aside from the outstanding citizens, is the Tombigbee River that runs right through it. It is the location for the largest tourism event in the area, and is the place where everyone seems to be on hot summer days.
Demopolis needs to take advantage of this beautiful resource though. As it has been discussed here on several occasions, why don’t we develop this property a little to attract more people into our town?
Many things could be done with this property, but some things need to be taken care of first. The first thing is to clean up the area directly in front of the river. The concrete wall that lines the river from the river landing to the area close to the cotton gin needs to be patched up where it is broken and fallen. The chain link fence needs to be removed, as it is an eye soar to the scenery the river gives us. But one of the largest problems is the steady erosion of the bluffs.
The erosion of the white bluffs has been a problem for a long time now ( this is why the wall is falling now ). I have talked to a friend of mine, a civil engineering student at UA, and asked her what things she thought could be done to help prevent this erosion. She stated basically what I had stated before, to erect a concrete breaker wall in front of the bluffs. But surly there is some other option, as this would take away the beauty of the white bluffs add. I sent an email to the county engineering office about this topic, but received no response back. So it kind of left me to compose ideas of my own on how to help this problem.
One idea I had was to reinforce the bluffs. This could be done, in theory, by drilling a mesh of holes deep into the lime bluffs and filling these holes with concrete. This would act similarly to rebar in concrete foundations. Another idea would be to excavate lime rock from another location, crush it into a gravel, and then add it to the problem areas along the bluffs. It would give a small barrier for the river to erode away that can be replaced periodically.
The only thing is, I am not a civil engineer, nor do I have any experience on this kind of thing. I am just an electrical engineering student throwing ideas to the wind. I want to invite anyone with any kind of expertise in this field to add ideas to the pot. I also want to invite what ever dept of this county that is responsible for the bluffs to come and post what has and will be done. Maybe with enough people throwing ideas back and forth we can come up with a plan to help save Demopolis’ tourism life-line.
Jeff, I am completely with you on this. We really can't do any riverfront projects until these issues have been addressed, or it is simply a waste of money and time. These bluffs truly make Demopolis a special place, and I hope if we keep this topic open for conversation that some sort of resolution can come of it.
"Labor is the source of all wealth" Harry's Bar T-shirt
I don't think any county or city department is responsible for the bluffs. Your best source of help and information about the erosion control methods as pertaining to wake action is going to be the Corps of Engineers. The Corps, in addition to being a federal agency, has control of all the traffic on the river. They will also have the expertise to deal with this. Next question is: WHEN will they deal with this?
snafu
"If I got SMART with you .... how would you know???" BIG DOG
Regarding the article in the Times about the Riverfront development, the city gets grants for "free" money as they put it, but yet never seem to maintain anything. Look at what we are stuck with along the river now. Is that how "free" money is going to work? We build it, then never worry about upkeep? Or do we accept this "free" money, then never take into account the money it takes for maintenance?
It is great to get grant money, but the whole picture has to be taken into account..."free" isn't the correct word. Look at the lovely chainlink fence we have now. It is quite disturbing that a concrete wall can't even be maintained. Does anyone else see the problems that will eventually come of this? As the old cliche goes...."nothing is ever free."
"Labor is the source of all wealth" Harry's Bar T-shirt
Well, the grant money would be just to get the river walk built as far as I can see. Maintenance could be an issue though. Not only with making sure the thing doesn't break up, but also the landscaping, clean up, etc...
I have sent emails to the county engineer, Alabama Corps. of Engineers, and to city hall (Attn. Mark Pettus and Vicky Taylor) concerning the erosion control. I never heard anything back from the county engineer nor ACE, but the email to city hall was just sent today after I read the article in the Times. I will post any response I may get on the subject
There will be a new 4,875-foot by 10-foot reinforced concrete bike and pedestrian path for the public to use. Secondly, there will be a four-foot high safety fence that will run the entire length and will be constructed of decorative iron.
There will also be lighting every 200 feet along with concrete benches every 400 feet. The entire walk will be landscaped with shrubbery and annuals.
Two floating docks will be installed for everyday and casual boaters to use.
The "free" money in question would be around $403,237.60, with the city putting in an additional $100,809.40. The sentiment is from some that if the town goes through with the plans they will not handle the upkeep afterward. I personally think the town will keep up the area, considering how many different people wil be monitering it (Historical Society, residents of Main and Commissioner, etc.) The current chain link fence that's n place was put up for safety reasons, due in part to the erosion and I think the fact that the 2 foot concrete wall thats always been there does noting to stop even a 2 year old from climbing over and falling to his/her death.
Regardless if folks think the city won;t take care of something like the riverwalk, I think ANYTHING the city does to improve the appearence on Arch Street is a good thing. This will bring focus not only to the river, but to Downtown Demopolis; a place where everyone agrees the economy needs to improve.
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I agree that most anything is better than what is there. But, I agree also that I don't think anyone wants to go into this without exploring all feasible options. Once something like this is built, it is built.
Another concern that has been mentioned, but not exactly voiced is the fact that due to the erosion, there isn't as much of Arch Street left as originally planned (ie 1976 or so?) in this master plan. This greatly upsets the residents along the river because the city owns x number of feet of property from the bluff's edge...but now (of course) that edge has changed.
Is there a precedent of a riverwalk in a residential neighborhood? I thought the main intent was to drum up commercial business like Dave mentioned. That would seem to be the largest plus to the city.
"Labor is the source of all wealth" Harry's Bar T-shirt
The project would definitly be great for demopolis. I am just trying to picture the starting point and the ending point of the path though. At 4875 ft (1 mile is 5280 ft) That be the distance from the landing to almost the cemetary over by the botanical gardens I do believe. Much landscaping would be needed over by botanical gardens, al well as come clean up work done on the old cotton gin.
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I don't see where $500,000 is enough to cover the cost of building such a "riverwalk" and also being that quite a bit of that 4875' is through parts of residential property (except that x number of feet from the bluff's edge owned by the city) and it could cause problems for those residents. Bran, I'm with you on this one, that this probably sounded really good when initially planned, but there is still A LOT to be thought about before going on with this plan. I think something should be done to make the banks a little more aesthetically pleasing, but I don't see where a "riverwalk" is the way to go.
