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.

Just upstream of the Major Rudolf Anderson Jr. Memorial, city engineers created soil lifts, or stepped riverbank, to reduce soil erosion into the river.
A gentle slope leading to the river along Cleveland Park Drive will better handle high water events.
A restored river bank near Cleveland Park Shelter 3 helps direct water flow.
Bank stabilization work is in progress downstream of Cleveland Street.

Project Details

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

Geolifts will be utilized to stabilize streambanks, which involves 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 will be installed to prevent streamflow from eroding the banks during storm events.

Sewer main encasement work will consist 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 include excavating old streambank material and regrading the slopes away from the river to create a more natural stream channel, which will be replanted with native riparian vegetation. All of the streambank work along the Reedy River and Richland Creek will include removal of invasive plant materials.

Project Schedule

Stage 1

The first stage of the project, which focused on the area around the Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr. Memorial, is complete. This includes the area downstream of McDaniel Avenue in the vicinity of Woodland Way. Additionally, the streambank stabilization measures in the tributary areas near Shelter #3 are complete.

Stage 2

The second stage focuses on the area from the Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr. Memorial upstream to Cleveland Street. The section of the Swamp Rabbit Trail between the Memorial and the Cancer Survivors Park will be closed in February 2019.

Stage 3

The areas adjacent to the Greenville Zoo parking lot, near Cleveland Park Drive and Lakehurst Street, will be active with streambank work into March 2019. Trail and road closures for this area will coincide with the closures related to ReWa's DIG Greenville project.

Stage 4

The final stage will focus on the most downstream section of the Reedy River in the park, near the intersection of Woodland Way and Woodland Way Circle. The final stage is expected to occur in July 2019.