Greenway project delayed by contractor misstep

On Saturday after light rain the day before, I checked the greenway.  I stopped to talk with two workers who were loading heavy equipment onto a transporter.

They worked for Badger State Site Preparation--the subcontractor who will be cutting and removing the trees.  They told me they were removing equipment to another construction site, because S&L Underground and Trucking (the main contractor) had not laid enough gravel down onto the road.  In fact, I could see that the layer of gravel was spotty and thin.

"It's too muddy," they said.  "We won't be able to get the crane level--the controls won't even operate unless it's level.  (And that was before the moderate rain of Sunday morning.)  They would not be returning until at least Wednesday.

The trees couldn't be cut before Oct. 15, because of the danger of spreading oak wilt.  But S&L Underground & Trucking could easily have constructed the road and laid gravel before that.  If they had done that work in a timely fashion, Badger State Site Preparation could have begun work and made some progress before the rains came.  It's going to be hard to lay gravel now that the ground is so muddy.

Delay is a problem because the project (except for plantings) is supposed to be finished by early December, with the soil stabilized for the winter.   Topsoil cannot be spread if it's frozen.  S&L Underground will have to keep stockpiled topsoil unfrozen until it is spread.

S&L violates erosion control and tree protection rules

Out of  3-4 vehicles on the site, one was parked 4 feet from a tree to be saved.  The Badger State men told me that bobcat belonged to S&L Underground.  All the Badger State machines were parked correctly. 

The new tree protection rules require equipment to be parked at least 5 feet from trees.

At the west end of the greenway, there was a pile of soil not protected by a silt fence, as required by the erosion control plan.