Mending Fences....Again

Fence repairs are an ongoing project due to natural deterioration and human intervention. But this time there was a dangerous situation, with a section of fence entirely gone, at a high point in the dam. a few of the fence posts had bruises that were most certainly caused by contact with a moving object. Bicycle? Dirt bike? ATV? If either of the latter two, they are definitely prohibited from the rec path and should be reported to the police immediately.
Click on photos to enlarge

Pressure treated pine replacement rails brought to the work site

Anthony and Allan start hauling some of the tools needed.  Nothing is as much fun on a rainy Saturday morning as some quality time with a diggin' bar.

We access the RecPath at the Canoe Launch on Constitution Boulevard North, right across from the Shelton Intermediate School.

And Rich followed them in to make sure they didn't run off with the post hole digger.

We lugged the new replacement fence rails (pressure-treated this time) and posts (locust) along the RecPath

We pulled out the old broken posts, and loosened some of the others.  Out with the old ... in with the new. Rails, that is!

At least one damaged post also had to be replaced.  I don't think Rich knows how to take pictures of people's good sides.  Wait, maybe this is our good side.

Anthony, Allen and Jimmy digging out an old stump to get the new bottom rail in place.

And so it went down the line, as the rain got a little heavier, we tried to get the worst sections repaired before the main part of the storm hit.  Dig out near the post, remove the broken rails, slide in the new rails - sometimes with some loving taps from our Fine Adjustment Tool; a 12 lb. sledgehammer.

With a little digging, tugging, whacking, and backfilling we fixed the worst of the broken fence on the north section of dam.

Jim even used his "foot shovel" to fill in the fence post holes and tamp them down.

And as the rain started coming down heavier we decided to, in the words of our leader Bill Dyer "Let's declare victory and go home".  And it was a good job done at minimal expense to the taxpayer.  Jimmy even felt confident enough of his work that he was leaning on the fence he helped repair.

So, if you are the owner of a local landscaping company looking for experienced fence refurbishers this summer, we can hook you up with some local guys named Jimmy, Allen, and Anthony who know which end of a diggin' bar to use.  We might even throw Jim in too.

Our next work party is May 20th at the Intermediate School where we may cut brush or repair more fence before the National Trails Day Hike on June 3rd.  Come out and enjoy the fun.  Thanks to Val, Bill, Jim, Rich, Jimmy, Anthony, Allen and Terry for helping out.

One of the nice sights in this area is the view of Silent Waters from the Canoe Launch.  Make a point to get out and enjoy Shelton's open spaces.