Today the Lincoln was rescued from the Saline after being pinned below the surface for an entire week. He suffered three puncture wounds but is crucial to our tug and barge strategy and must be repaired. We gained access to the Saline through the automobile junk yard at Macks. In the waiting room there was video playing on a flat screen t.v. of cars being flattened in a hydraulic smashing machine; i am sure the video was made "in house" as the shot was made without consideration for the sun which flared in the camera's lens and filled the scene with dramatic bursts. A man named Donny came and escorted us through the yard. He grew up in the neighborhood and is now in his fifties. Donny and his buddies used to swim in the "Boney" at the weir where Bryan and I lost the Lincoln. The Boney that Donny mentioned is actually the Saline and I think kids still swim there; at that very spot I saw a rope with a loop tied at its end hanging from a tall, thin Ash or Hackberry tree. Donny didn't know of the homeless camp that I have heard existed at the present day City of Urbana maintenance facility; which was previously Chief Shemanger Park, but he said some people might have stayed there if they didn't have any where else to go. I guess i consider that homeless. Donny escorted us all the way to the creek and helped us pull the Lincoln through the strip of dense Bush Honeysuckle and into the junk yard. He seemed to enjoy recalling his days romping in the Saline. He warned us of the leeches as we waded into the Saline to lift the log that pinned the Lincoln but he also mentioned their usefulness as fishing bait. There are indeed leeches in the Saline; we have uncovered them burrowed in soggy heaps of plastic, but I do not consider them a threat.
The SCAN has proven to be a very useful boat. It is wider, very responsive, more stable and can be maneuvered easily by one person while carrying a passenger. Our plan is to use the SCAN as a barge while pulling it with the Lincoln. The next rounds of cart removal will require that we be able to float more carts over longer distances and to minimize the number of carts on the boat we are paddling. It will be ideal if we can float five or six and possibly seven carts at a time. Five on the SCAN and two on the Lincoln. The carts are top heavy when piled on the Lincoln and can easily topple him. Thankfully the SCAN seems to be well suited for precarious heaps of plastic and rusting metal.
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| The Lincoln is fine, The SCAN has proved it's useful, many carts remain |
We managed to stage all the carts and debris that we had dug up between the East Lawn Cemetery and the
gigantic shed at the sewer treatment plant. The conditions of the Saline were finally manageable after several
bouts of heavy rainfall that kept the water high and moving very quickly. There were sixteen carts, and three bicycles, in addition to clothing , plastic bags and wrappers, car parts, building materials, landscape fabric, fencing and barricades, a crutch, pull top beer cans, BBQ grill, and various other unknown objects. The pile is impressive and we hope to remove it from the staging ground on Wednesday granted Andrew can spare his Ford Ranger for the day. The Urbana Parks District leases the property from the Sewer District. The Parks District has been extremely helpful and sympathetic to our project by allowing us access to the Saline and the staging area from their lot, and, lending us a staff member with equipment.
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| The Material Annex |
Conditions: Sunny, hot but not uncomfortable, fast moving turbid water, minimal insects. Observed fauna: Owl, Blue Heron, water snake minus head, Egret, Toad, Ground Hog Observed Flora: Catalpa trees are in bloom |
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