Concrete Canvas (CC) Boat Ramp Extension - East Fork Lake, IL, USA

The East Fork Lake in the City of Olney, IL, is a significant recreational draw for boating and fishing enthusiasts. The lake has only one public access boat ramp, which was
built in the 1970s to accommodate small fishing boats and recreational watercraft. Over time, as recreational and fishing boat sizes increased, the city found that the ramp
was not long enough to accommodate longer boat trailers, especially when water levels in the lake dropped. Longer boat trailers would drop off the end of the ramp, requiring
specialized equipment to lift and remove trapped trailers.

The City first addressed the problem by extending theramp with gravel, but this solution was temporary, as thegravel would be pushed away from the end of the ramp. This required frequent maintenance (either by regrading the gravel, or filling with additional gravel) on an ongoing basis. An alternative approach was to extend the ramp with a
prepared gravel bed, capped by a layer of Concrete Cloth to provide the hard, trafficking surface, and to protect the prepared gravel subgrade. This approach was estimated
to take ~1-2 calendar day of work time. With two days of excavation contractor work and one day of underwater contractor work, the approach appeared to be less costly
than extending the ramp with poured concrete, especially since the work could be done without dewatering. Inaddition, it was expected that the lake would be open within
~1 week of starting the project. Visit http://concretecloth.milliken.com/Pag... for further information.