Cleveland Park Streambank Stabilization

Work is underway on a streambank stabilization and restoration project in Cleveland Park. The project limits are from Cleveland Street to Woodland Way bridge along the Reedy River, as well as a small portion of Richland Creek near the Greenville Zoo. 

The project scope includes replacing invasive plants with native vegetation, planting hundreds of trees and shrubs and constructing stream enhancement measures. The exposed sanitary sewer pipes within the park will also be covered as part of the project.

Temporary detours along the Swamp Rabbit Trail may be necessary during the course of construction, but signage will be posted to alert trail users in advance.

Project Details

Construction activities included bank stabilization, sewer main encasement and floodplain excavation.

Geolifts were utilized to stabilize streambanks, which involved grading eroded streambanks to a stable slope using soil layers and installing native vegetation between the layers of soil. In-stream structures called rock vanes were installed to prevent streamflow from eroding the banks during storm events.

Sewer main encasement work consisted of placing clean fill material over the sewer mains and compacting the material to form berms with gentle slopes on either side of the pipe.

Floodplain activities included excavating old streambank material and regrading the slopes away from the river to create a more natural stream channel, which were replanted with native riparian vegetation. All of the streambank work along the Reedy River and Richland Creek included removal of invasive plant materials.