George Rogers Clark Discovery Trail.pptconservationengineers.org/.../GeorgeRogersClarkTrail_COen.pdfGeorge Rogers Clark was a soldier from Virginia and the highest ranking American

George Rogers Cla

• Bicycle travel has played an historic role in America's transportation.

• The U.S. has experienced a large increase in the use of bicycles since the 1970's, due to a combination of factors, including:

– Energy efficiency– Cost effectiveness– Health benefits– Environmental

advantages– Recreational benefits

ark Discovery Trail

Definition of Conser

Conservation Engineering defined as:

(1) Having an understanding of the biological and environmental functions of the project on which they are working.

(2) Be able to transform the biological requirements of fish production or wildlife management into an operating facility.

(3) Protect and rebuild the past as part of rehabilitating historic structures.

(4) Apply creative thinking and innovative design solutions to construct recreational facilities in environmentally sensitive areas.

rvation Engineering

Conservation EnGeorge Rogers Cla

• If ever, there were a project that“Conservation Engineering” Proqualify:

(1) The design required the engineers andbiological and environmental function

(2) The project required the designers to haverequirements of the natural areas throucreate an operating facility that did no

(3) Providing interpretation opportunities andstructures along with providing recrea

(4) Application of creative thinking and innorecreational facilities in an environmen

ngineering on theark Discovery Trail

t would be the epitome of a oject, then the GRCDT would

d planners to have an understanding of the ns of the project.

e a good understanding of the ecological ugh which the project traversed in order to t impact those areas.

d promoting access to restored historic ational opportunities along the trail project.

vative design solutions to construct ntally sensitive area.

George Rogers Cla

• The proposed GRCDT is located in Southern Illinois in Massac County, just across the Ohio River from Paducah, Kentucky.

• The proposed trail is approximately 8.8 miles long and follows along the Ohio River from Metropolis to Brookport, Illinois.

ark Discovery Trail

George Rogers Claark Discovery Trail

George Rogers Cla

• The GRCDT is the result of over thirty years of land acquisition, field work, surveys, studies, planning, design, and a lot of work on behalf of a few forward thinking individuals who looked at an old abandoned railroad bed and visualized a recreational trail.

ark Discovery Trail

George Rogers Cla

The proposed project is an 8.8 mile mIllinois Transportation EnhancemenPedestrian/Bicycle Facilities.

This project will fulfill a long time goNatural Resources with the develop

The rail bed right-of-way was acquireintent of eventually developing a b

The trail will address significant safetpedestrians, while encouraging moexperience the history and scenic bOhio River Route National Scenic within the Fort Massac State Park N

ark Discovery Trail

multiple use trail, funded by the nts Program under the category of

oal of the Illinois Department of pment of the trail facilities.

ed by IDNR in the 1970’s with the ike trail.

ty issues with existing bicyclists and re residents and visitors to

beauty of some of the sites along the Byway, including the natural areas

Nature Preserve.

George Rogers Cla

George Rogers Clark was a soldier from Virginia and the highest ranking American military officer on the northwestern frontier during the American Revolutionary War.

He served as leader of the Kentucky militia throughout most of the war, and is best known for his celebrated capture of Kaskaskia and Vincennes, in the Illinois campaign of 1778.

ark Discovery Trail

Historic Foort Massac Legend has it that as early as

1540, the Spanish explorer Hernando Desoto and his soldiers constructed a primitive fortification here to defend themselves from hostile native attack.

The French built Fort De L'Ascension on the site in 1757, during the French and Indian War.

Rebuilt in 1759-60, the fort was renamed Massiac in honor of the then French Minister of Colonial Affairs

Historic Foort Massac

In 1763, at the end of the French and Indian War, the French abandoned the fort and a raiding band of Chickasaws burned it to the ground.

Later, a British Regiment arrived to take possession, found the charred ruin and never rebuilt or re-garrisoned the fort, which they called “Massac,” the name which stuck with the fort.

Historic Illino In 1778, Clark led an

expedition into the Northwest Territory. Part of his mission was to establish whether the British had rebuilt and re-garrisoned Fort Massac, which had been burned to the ground by Chickasaw's after the French had abandoned it in 1763.

Clark and his men hid their boats along Seven Mile Creek, and crept through the woods to discover that Fort Massac was still a ruin, with no British military presences.

ois Campaign

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Historic Illino After determining that the

British had not fortified Fort Massac, Colonel Clark led his 175 men about 100 miles north to surround, surprise, and capture Kaskaskia, without firing a shot.

Having taken Ft. Kaskaskia on July 4, 1778, Clark continued on up the Mississippi River and captured Prairie de Roche and Cahokia, then marched to Vincennes to capture Ft. Sackville.

ois Campaign

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Historic Illino To counter Clark's advance, the

British sent Henry Hamilton to Vincennes with a small force to seize Ft. Sackville in the Fall of 1778.

In February, 1779, Clark left Kaskaskia and marched his men across the swamps and flooded creeks of Southern Illinois to Vincennes in the dead of winter to lay siege to Ft. Sackville.

ois Campaign

The linked image cannot be displayed. The file may have been moved, renamed, or deleted. Verify that the link points to the correct file and location.

Historic Illino After determining that the

British had not fortified Fort Massac, Colonel Clark led his 175 men about 100 miles north to surround, surprise, and capture Kaskaskia, without firing a shot.

Having taken Ft. Kaskaskia on July 4, 1778, Clark continued on up the Mississippi River and captured Prairie de Roche and Cahokia, then marched to Vincennes to capture Ft. Sackville.

ois Campaign

The linked image cannot be displayed. The file may have been moved, renamed, or deleted. Verify that the link points to the correct file and location.

Historic Illino After determining that the

British had not fortified Fort Massac, Colonel Clark led his 175 men about 100 miles north to surround, surprise, and capture Kaskaskia, without firing a shot.

Having taken Ft. Kaskaskia on July 4, 1778, Clark continued on up the Mississippi River and captured Prairie de Roche and Cahokia, then marched to Vincennes to capture Ft. Sackville.

ois Campaign

The linked image cannot be displayed. The file may have been moved, renamed, or deleted. Verify that the link points to the correct file and location.

George Rogers Cla

Having nearly frozen to death many times in a Southern Illinois swamp while duck hunting, I can imagine how those poor soldiers who followed Clark on his exploits during the winter of 1779, must have felt.

ark Discovery Trail

Siege of Fort Sack

In February 1779, Clark returned to Vincennes in a surprise winter expedition and retook Fort Sackville, capturing British Governor Henry Hamilton in the process. The winter expedition was Clark's most significant military achievement and became the source of his reputation as an early American military hero.

kville (Vincennes)

Fort Massacc State Park The George Rogers Clark

Statue at Fort Massac State Park overlooks the beautiful Ohio River.

In 1903, through the efforts of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 24 acres surrounding the site were purchased by the State of Illinois and on November 5, 1908, Fort Massac was officially dedicated as Illinois' first State Park.

Fort Massac Annnual Encampment

The annual Fort Massac Encampment celebrates the history of Fort Massac from the early French period until 1814.

Military Units, Colonist, Sutlers, and Native American reenactors portray the history of the fort with crafts, military drills, music, children's games and a mock battle, complete with a thundering cannonade.

Multi-usse Trail

Approximately 4.0 miles of the trail project will be inside the City limits of Brookport and Metropolis, Illinois and will be designated and signed as a shared roadway.

Multi-Usse Trail

Approximately 1.5 miles of the multi-use trail project is located on existing low use Massac County roadways, where the trail users will share the trail with vehicular traffic and pedestrians as well as cyclists

Entrance to Fort MMassac State Park

The visitor's center at Fort Massac State Park is one of the designated visitor stops along the 8.8 miles of the George Rogers Clark Discovery Trail.

The center’s museum will provide interpretive displays about the history of the area and Fort Massac, as well as providing public restrooms, drinking fountains, and other amenities for trail users.

Wetlands DDelineation As most of you know, no

project utilizing Federal Funds makes it to engineering design with-out Biological Resources Review, and that includes trails.

The proposed project is being processed as a Categorical Exclusion, based upon the type of project, and its location in a State owned facility.

T & E.S. and Wetlands Delineation were conducted by the Illinois Natural History Survey.

Wetlands DDelineation

The results of the survey indicated three (3) jurisdictional wetlands within the project corridor.

In accordance with the State of Illinois' Wetlands Action Plan, wetlands impacts are to be avoided, minimized, and then mitigated.

Wetlands DDelineation

The project crosses three (3) streams...Massac, Fourmile, and Sevenmile Creeks.

We were able to minimize the impact to two (2) piers of the proposed Massac Creek Bridge located within one of the wet-land sites.

We are negotiating mitigation for those impacts with IDNR at this time.

Wetlands DDelineation

The conclusion of the Biological Resources Review was that we could proceed with no additional review, provided we meet all of our stipulations and mitigation requirements.

Threatened and Enndangered Species

Twenty-nine plant taxa are listed as threatened or endangered in Massac County. Only one state listed species, Melica mutica (Two-flowered melic grass) was observed during field surveys for the trail project.

The endangered species was found at only three locations in the project area, always on the top of the old railroad bed.

Indianna Bat

Because of the probable presence of the Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis) the Illinois Department of Natural Resources recommended that tree removal on the trail project should not take place between April 1 and September 30, the nesting season for the Indiana bat in Southern Illinois.

Engineerinng Design

Completion of the Biological Resources Review, including the T&E species, and Wetlands Delineation reviews, released the project to engineering design.

Heavy vegetation along the trail thwarted efforts to use modern GPS surveying techniques, so the old reliable methods were used to supplement surveys where needed.

George Rogers Claark Discovery Trail

3.6 Miles of the GRCDT through the Fort Massac State Park section of the trail will be built on the abandoned Illinois Central Gulf Railroad bed.

Some portions of the “rails to trails” portion of the former railroad right-of-way already has a hiking path, making for easy construction.

Engineerin

We weren't so lucky on other sections of the trail within the Park corridor

Forty years of growth has made some of the areas of trail look more like a jungle scene.

ng Design

Special Desiggn Concerns

The Department of Homeland Security had a special concern with the trail's proximity to the I-24 corridor as well as to the north abutment of the I-24 Ohio River Bridge linking Metropolis, Illinois, to Paducah, Kentucky

Trail Design thrrough the Park

The design of the trail through the portions of the Park, not on railroad right-of-way, will be a combination of new separate trail construction along with utilization of the existing Park Road System to create a shared use trail.

Trail Design Parameters

Steep side slopes were of concern to the designer in meeting the AASHTO design standards.

Several design variances were requested during the design review process.

Trail Design Parameters

Steep side slopes at approaches to the proposed bridges will require guard railing and/or safety fencing, or landscaping to make the design safe for the trail users.

Trail D

At the terminus of the IDNR owned Railroad bed, the trail will utilize existing low traffic Massac County roadways and be signed and marked as a shared use roadway.

Design

Trail D

The work involved with the trail from the State Park to Brookport will involve lane markings, signs, and signals, where required.

Design

Alternative De

Due to problems anticipated with construction phase funding, an alternate design was proposed to allow the trail to utilize an existing vehicle bridge over Massac Creek on the existing Park road system.

esign Features

Brid

The project crosses three major streams along the railroad bed section through the Park, including Massac Creek, Fourmile Creek, and Sevenmile Creek.

The bridges are to be constructed with little or no impact on these streams.

dges

Existing Massa

The existing driven-pile, timber, vehicular bridge over Massac Creek was recently inspected as part of the State of Illinois' Bi-ennel Bridge Inspection Program.

Except for minor repairs and some signage and safety items, the existing bridge should be acceptable for trail use.

ac Creek Bridge

Brid Bridges proposed:Massac Creek: 5 spans, 870 feet

length, 4 pier locations in overbank areas, two (2) of which are in designated wetland area, main stream channel to be clearspanned.

Fourmile Creek: 2 spans, 420 feet length, one pier in an over-bank area, main stream channel to be clearspanned.

Sevenmile Creek: 1 span, 235 feet length, main stream channel to be clearspanned.

dges

Refere

• AASHTO Guidelines• “Guide for the develop-

ment of bicycle facilities” 1999

ences:

Refere

• Federal Highway Administration:

• “Implementing Bicycle Improvements at the Local Level.” 1998

ences: