In late April, work began on the demolition of the railroad tie
retaining wall, and reconstruction using stone around the first pond on
18 Hawk. Over the years the
ground behind the wall had started to slough. This caused safety issues
for golfers, and an unpleasing appearance.
 |
| Sloughed and uneven wall |
 |
| One of a few sloughed and dangerous areas |
After pulling the existing wall out and stripping the work area of
sod it was discovered that most of the the area around the pond had been
backfilled with sand during original construction. This explained
why the area had sloughed so badly and why so much material had
'disappeared' over the years. This caused an unforeseen issue, whereas
the sand had to be removed and replaced with clay fill in order for the
new wall to be constructed properly. Approximately 500 cubic yards of fill
was brought in.
 |
| Pulling ties, often one at a time |
 |
| Sand backfill that almost reached the Fairway needed to be removed |
 |
| Hauling in fill, and removing sand |
 |
| Fill in and bench for stonework set |
After hauling in fill and improving the work area, work is set to
begin on wall construction. Filter fabric was laid out and a gravel base
laid. With that the first course of stonework and base of the wall is
ready to be set.
 |
| Setting the base course |
Keeping a constant eye the on line of the base, the wall began
to take shape. Each layer of rock was also backfilled with drainage
gravel as the wall was built.
 |
| Eyeing up the line |
 |
| Halfway through base course |
Once the first course had been placed, the real challenge began. This
wall took on the properties of a puzzle, trying to fit this rock here
and that rock there. It took many long days to get the right pieces
into place and at times a lot of head scratching.
 |
| Final grading and loam before sodding | | | | |
|
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
 |
| After |
After a few setbacks and unpredictable but typical Priddis Greens weather events (snow) the pond was completed on the 23rd of May almost a month after breaking ground. Thanks to Construction Foreman Ross Moore, Intern Ethan Bailey and an outside contractor from Goodwin Golf. The result of their hours of hard work is a visually stunning wall that members will be able to enjoy for years to come!
Comments
Post a Comment