South Maple Park on Ann Arbor's Westside is being rehabilitated in order to install new playground equipment that meets current safety standards. Some of the asphalt pathways that have deteriorated are also being upgraded. The project began in July and it is expected to be completed by September.
"We're excavating out the existing asphalt and gravel so that we can place 6 inches of 21AA limestone and repave the path with asphalt, 6 feet wide," Merrill Bumstead, project manager for Margolis Nursery, Inc., of Superior Township, said. Margolis Nursery is the prime contractor for the project. D&H Asphalt, of Hamburg, is doing the asphalt paving and Saladino Construction, of Ann Arbor, is doing the concrete flatwork. The Ann Arbor Parks & Recreation department is the owner of the park.
The project includes placement of approximately 70 tons of asphalt and 210 tons of 21AA limestone for the pathway; 285 cubic yards of wood fiber safety surfacing for the play area; 67 cubic yards of pea gravel for the play surface and drainage; 880 linear feet of timber edging that will go around the play area; and 14,000 square feet of geotextile fabric. The geotextile fabric is a soil separator that is placed between the pea gravel and the wood fiber surfacing. The project also includes 260 linear feet of split rail fencing in a nature area.
The project includes clearing out a wooded area so that two sections of the park can be connected. This is where the split rail fencing is being placed.
The storm water drainage underneath the play area is being upgraded with approximately 300 feet of 4-inch polyvinyl chloride drainage.
"If you keep the wood fiber safety surface dry, it will last much longer. If it retains moisture, it will rot out. So, they want to keep the drainage up to date and working properly so that the fiber lasts longer," Bumstead said.
"The park is being kept open to the public during construction. So, we must keep a clean site. We have the area we are working in fenced off and that is off limits to the public.
"We're using compact equipment. We are using a Bobcat track machine as opposed to a rubber-tired machine for two reasons. It's easy to grade the pathways with and it does less damage to the turf. We have to go from the staging area across the turf to get to the job site."
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