Troup County’s mega-boat ramp push at West Point Lake sets world record
Civil engineers with the Troup County road department collectively held their breath on July 22 as five bulldozers pushed a 324-ton concrete slab into West Point Lake near LaGrange. At the end of the 3-minute, 25-second ordeal, a new world record was reached and the engineers breathed a sigh of relief.
The push of the mega-boat ramp likely sets a world record as the largest boat ramp ever moved into a body of water, according to Ted Will, region supervisor of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ fisheries management section and statewide director of the boating access program.
The three-lane, 160-foot-long and 43-foot-wide concrete slab connects with another record-setting ramp moved into the lake in May; that first slab measured 120 feet long and weighed 234 tons. Together, the slabs form a six-lane mega-ramp that was funded with a $400,000 state grant as part of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s "Go Fish Georgia" initiative to attract fishing tournaments to boost local economies.
"This mega-ramp facilitates the very largest tournaments, so it gives Troup County something unique as a draw for tourists," said Troup Commission Chairman Ricky Wolfe.
The mega-boat ramp at Pyne Road Park is the largest of its kind and the only boat ramp in this region with six lanes for boat launching and loading. The ramp gets its first major workout next spring when the 2011 Bassmaster Elite Series comes to Troup County, bringing the world’s top anglers to compete on West Point Lake in the May 5-8 Pride of Georgia event. Competitors will use the new mega-ramp at Pyne Road Park, according to LaGrange-Troup County tourism director Laura Jennings who said the tournament brings national and international television coverage via ESPN. "What the Masters is to golf this tournament is to fishing," said Jennings.
The efforts of Troup County’s road department are likely to receive national recognition by organizations devoted to boating access, according to Will who commended county employees for their "creativity and innovation."
Troup County engineer James Emery and project engineer Kevin Kinnersley led the project which involved ample brainstorming on ways to successfully move the huge slab. Joining them to facilitate the project were Doug Smith, road supervisor; Ricky Littlefield, engineering technician; and Charles Brock, construction foreman.
"These five men worked together to accomplish something that had not been done before, here in Troup County or anywhere else," said Wolfe. "How they approached this project and came up with a workable solution shows the ingenuity of the County’s road department and its engineers."
Will termed the successful mega-ramp push "quite amazing" and added that the county employees’ ingenuity also results in taxpayer savings.
"Most counties, if they had to go outside and contract out the site plans, engineering and the construction of these mega-ramps, it would have cost them twice as much, but Troup County was able to do this work with a quality product at a very reasonable cost," said Will. "Ultimately what this means for Troup County is millions of dollars of local economic impact due to the large tournaments that will be attracted to this site because of their efforts."
When first contemplating how to place a concrete slab of this magnitude, Emery searched the Internet for information, hoping to mimic a successful project, but he soon discovered that no ramps this large had been moved into water. In fact, the recommended maximum for such ramps is one-third the size of Troup County’s. After studying various methods, the civil engineers incorporated ideas of their own to accomplish the push.
"We used a lot of the techniques that had been used before, but they had never been used altogether," said Emery. "One of our ideas was adding vegetable oil to reduce the friction, because that’s really what it’s all about: in order to push 324 tons you have to either have enough pushing force or low enough coefficient of friction, so we approached it from both angles."
The July push took 3 minutes and 25 seconds for the mega-ramp to slide into place. Accompanying the new mega-ramp is a new L-shaped dock, 10-feet wide and more than 300-feet long, to accommodate 60 boats.
Troup County’s record will remain intact for a long time, according to Will. "What they’ve been able to accomplish sets a precedent," he said, "but I personally cannot see anyone ever pushing a slab that large again. That is quite the sight. The ultimate reward in the end for the people of Troup County is tournaments like the Elite Series and others coming to town."
The deep mega-ramp allows boaters to launch even in drought conditions that drop the lake’s water level, according to Will, who said the beauty of the mega-ramps is that they allow "fluid, efficient, quick launch of boats," a necessity when hosting tournaments.
The Go Fish Georgia Initiative includes development of the Georgia Bass Trail, a 15-stop trail designed to provide a statewide system of large boating access areas capable of supporting large tournament events. West Point Lake is one of the 15 stops on the trail.
For more information contact Mike Dobbs, Troup County manager at 706-883-1610.
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