Sportsmen Rd. Restoration Project

I don't know where to post this so here it is. On 6-14 I received an e-mail requesting PACK volunteers to work on the Galveston Bay Foundation project at the end of Sportsmen Rd Sat 6-16. Since I was not able to go on the PACK trip to PINS that weekend I volunteered my time that morning for this project. I am glad I did. The project was the deployment of the remaining reef domes to the edge of the marsh straight West of the end of Sportsmen Rd. Reef domes or balls are hollow cast concrete structures designed to help prevent erosion and provide habitat for marine lifeforms. The bay balls used in this project are about 3 feet wide at the base and 2 feet tall with a large interior cavity and several holes through the side of the dome. They can be seen at www.reefball.com/reef.htm The handles for these were eight foot lengths of 1 1/2" water pipe stuck through two holes nearest the top of the dome with a strong back on each end of the pipe. The strong backs were provided by Seaborne ChalleNGe Corps volunteers. About 30 of these teenage volunteers handled loading of the 300+ pound domes onto flat bottomed aluminum jon boats which had been decked with plywood to carry the domes to their destination. Once there they also slid them off the boats and positioned them on the bottom of the bay just outside the shoreline of the marsh GBF is trying to protect. More information about the Saeborne ChalleNGe Corps can be seen at www.ngycp.org/state/tx/aboutus.php After the work was done the volunteers were treated to a Pizza and soft drink lunch. Out of 18 large Pizza Hut pizzas only 3 or 4 slices remained for the organizers to take home. Marsh Mania t shirts were also distributed to the volunteers. I was glad to participate in this effort and to represent PACK at the same time .