Hammock Park Restoration And Lake SueMar Stormwater Retrofit Project
The Hammock Park Restoration project involved the construction of a channel control structure and two overflow weir structures to divert flow from an existing man-made channel into a 15-acre forested wetland system in order to restore wetland hydrology and function. The project entailed the dredging and bank stabilization of a 1300-foot section of Channel C. Bank stabilization measures included innovative use of geoweb slope stabilization utilizing a wildflower/native grass hydro-seeding application that also helped to expedite permitting. Ardurra (fka King) also developed a hydrological and ecological monitoring program to assess the effectiveness of the project improvements, and prepared an overall Management Plan for Hammock Park.
Ardurra also prepared a project design to retrofit Lake Suemar, which was originally an artificial lake excavated along the east side of Hammock Park in the 1960s. Ardurra's project design incorporated a flow diversion control structure with overflow weirs, removal of invasive vegetative cover, and dredging of over 20,000 cubic yards of accumulated sediments. The final design also included re-contouring of the lake margins to create sediment sumps, deep permanent pool areas, and littoral planting areas, which serve to provide further habitat enhancement and water quality benefits to the lake as well as the downstream Cedar Creek system and St. Joseph’s Sound.