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March 6, 2006 - Thirty-six employees of the Cleburne and White County
Road Departments attended a seminar in Heber Springs on March 2,
2006 to hear about new and improved techniques to use in the construction
and maintenance of dirt roads throughout their counties. The seminar
was sponsored by the Little Red River Action Team (the Little Red
RATs), Cleburne County Judge Claude Dill, White County Judge Bob
Parish and the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department.
Assistant Professor Rodney D. Williams, P.E., Ph.D. of the Department
of Civil Engineering at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville,
conducted the seminar.
The seminar
was presented in response to a recent study showing that storm water
runoff from dirt roads is by far the primary cause of sedimentation
in the lower Little Red River. Greg Holland, coordinator of the
seminar for the Little Red RATs, said "We are fortunate in
Cleburne and White counties to have County Judges that are concerned
enough about the health of our river that they would dedicate their
staff's time to this seminar." The seminar covered current
storm water regulations, drainage and erosion concepts, methods
to control erosion and rural road construction methods.
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The study, conducted
under an Environmental Protection Agency grant, showed that 265,000
tons of sedimentation enters the Little Red River below Greers Ferry
Dam annually as a result of storm water runoff from dirt roads. "While
we know that the counties are not responsible for all dirt roads,
we felt they would be a good audience as a first step to reducing
sedimentation run off," Mr. Holland said. "We want to do
what we can to reduce the sedimentation, especially since the river
is such a great tourist attraction and economic asset for our area."
Techniques taught in this seminar will help improve the clarity of
the river and that's important to everyone. |
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