Past Projects
In 2013, The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation contracted with Kennedy Above/Under Ground to construct a bat gate in a cave known to harbor the federally endangered Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalist) at John Boyd Thacher State Park, just west of Albany, NY.
Located
at the bottom of a shear cliff ranging from 40 to 100 feet in height,
accessible only from the top, our first task was to coordinate the
delivery of over a ton of structural steel to the worksite. Once there,
the gate was to be designed and constructed 75 feet within the cave,
which maxed out at a height of about 3 feet. The agency had built bat
gates in the past with in-house crews, however, the logistics of the
Hailes Cave site prompted the agency to seek expert assistance. Jim
provided that expertise and then some!
With only a few conversations, basic location dimensions, and
some site pictures to go by, Jim was able to develop a plan for access
and provide an accurate materials list which was assembled prior to his
arrival on site, speeding construction time. Also prior to his arrival,
Jim recruited local caver volunteers to help with the project. Once on
site, Jim quickly adapted his plans to effectively transport the
materials and equipment to the cave and construct the gate.
After
some trail creation along the base of the cliff, the crew used a narrow
crack in the escarpment wall to negotiate the elevation change. Thanks
to a brief yet effective training by Jim, the crew learned how to
effectively manage large pieces of structural steel and were able to
carry all of the materials to the site by hand.
At the cave site, Jim designed the gate on the fly. With no suitable work site at the base of the cliff, Jim effectively relayed the necessary gate components to workers on the top of the cliff, which were then delivered to the construction site by the volunteers. Working with a local welder, Jim’s gate design yielded a custom-fit structure that both established a robust protection for the bat populations and met the park’s needs for esthetics (invisible from the cave exterior) and access for monitoring purposes (a protected, lockable entrance).
State
Agencies are very familiar with utilizing volunteer support to perform
much needed work. However, volunteers are seldom asked to do things of a
technical or difficult nature. When this project was proposed,
utilizing mostly volunteer support, and in a short timeframe under
difficult conditions, many were not optimistic. However, thanks to Jim’s
expertise, hard work, and leadership, he made a believer out of a lot
of people.
Casey Holzworth
Regional Natural Resource Steward
NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation