On September 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene brushed by the sanctuary at the Francis Beidler Forest. Two tree branches caused minor damage to the boardwalk, but a large sweetgum drove an entire 12-foot section of boardwalk into the mud breaking half of the lumber.
Due to the extent of the damage, repair work was delayed until Monday the 30th when the boardwalk would normally be closed to the public. With chainsaws, the land management team removed the sweet gum from the boardwalk and cut apart any unsalvageable portions of the boardwalk. While the initial repair work began, members of the nature center staff began bringing out the new lumber and hauling away the damaged portions of the boardwalk. No small task!
The majority of the repair work involved replacing the two 4”x4” supports that the sweetgum had driven into the mud and split as they violently passed by the steel support bolts. The adjoining undamaged section of boardwalk needed to be lifted and supported for the damaged 4”x4” supports to be removed and replaced by new supports. A cookie cut from the sweetgum trunk was used as a base on the mud for support of the heavy-duty farm jack and one side of the boardwalk section was lifted.
Once the boardwalk section was high enough, pieces of the sweetgum trunk were stack beneath the section to support it without use of the jack. With a chain wrapped around the 4”x4” support to grip it, the jack was then used to pull the broken support from the mud. A new 12-foot cumaru 4”x4” support was lifted into the hole vacated by the broken 4”x4” support. Multiple people were required for this process as cumaru is significantly heavier than southern pine. Holes for the steel support bolts were drilled into the new 4”x4” support and the whole process was repeated for the other broken 4”x4” support.
After ensuring the boardwalk section was level, the unbroken stringer (12-foot 2”x8” board) and the two new stringers were attached spanning the gap between the two undamaged sections of boardwalk. Finally, the new and salvaged deck boards were laid out across the stringers to be attached the next day along with the new handrails.
Returning the next day, work went quickly with the repetitive drilling of holes and driving of screws. Sweeping away the sawdust generated by the various board trimmings was the last step before hauling the tools and equipment back to the maintenance shop.
Aside from the unmatching colors, it is like it never even happened!
