Photos: Removing dirt for eighth rowing lane

Posted at 9:40 am November 28, 2016
By John Huotari 1 Comment

Workers remove dirt for the eighth rowing lane on the Oak Ridge Rowing Course on the Clinch River along Melton Lake Drive on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Workers have been removing dirt this month for the eighth rowing lane on the Oak Ridge Rowing Course on the Clinch River on the east end of town.

More than 250 truckloads of dirt had been removed as of November 16, according to Laurel Patrick of First Place Finish Inc., which received a $548,350 contract to add the eighth lane during a special meeting in September. The work will include a precast concrete block retaining wall and associated dredging and site work.

Oak Ridge officials announced in late October that the speed limit on a section of Melton Lake Drive would be temporarily reduced for at least three months starting Monday, October 31, while the eighth rowing lane is built, and part of the Melton Lake Greenway will be closed as necessary.

The speed limit has been reduced from 45 miles per hour to 25 mph along Melton Lake Drive between Amanda Drive and Palisades Parkway. The change will remain in place for a minimum of three months starting October 31. Signs were to be installed to warn drivers of the reduced speed limit.

The project will also require about 500 feet of greenway to be removed and replaced at the end of construction. As a result, a section of Melton Lake Greenway between Amanda Drive and Palisades Parkway will be temporarily closed, city officials said last month.

The construction of the eighth rowing lane is funded by a combination of state appropriations, City Capital Improvement funds, and a state tourism grant awarded to the Anderson County Tourism Council specifically for the eighth lane project. The Oak Ridge Rowing Association (ORRA), Explore Oak Ridge (the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau), and Visit Knoxville are also contributing agencies.

“These entities have come together to fund a project that will allow the world-class Oak Ridge Rowing Course to attract more and larger events,” the city said in a press release. “The new lane also ensures that the Oak Ridge course will remain competitive as one of the top-ranked rowing venues in the United States.”

Rowing has an annual economic impact of $2 million in Oak Ridge and the surrounding communities, the release said.

For more information, please contact the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department at (865) 425-3450.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

See previous stories on the eighth rowing lane here.

eighth-lane-dredging-equipment-nov-16-2016-web

Workers remove dirt for the eighth rowing lane on the Oak Ridge Rowing Course on the Clinch River on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Do you appreciate this story or our work in general? If so, please consider a monthly subscription to Oak Ridge Today. See our Subscribe page here. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.

If you haven't already, please consider subscribing to Oak Ridge Today. You don't have to subscribe to read most of our stories, but your subscription does provide benefits, including access to premium content. And it will help us cover local news for you day and night, as best we can. You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month. You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers:

Basic

Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and join a private story discussion page
Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and join a private story discussion page

Temporary

Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.