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Photograph of vegetation growing on top of historic bridge wall.

Vegetation Removal from Historic Structures -Tidelock to Key Bridge

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park » Vegetation Removal from Historic Structures -Tidelock to Key Bridge » Document List

The National Park Service, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, will remove vegetation from historic masonry features from Tidelock to Key Bridge. Removal of the vegetation will help with the preservation of the structures of the canal. The vegetation is impacting the structural integrity of the features. Park Standard Operating Procedure #M/PW/002, NPS-28, and The Secretary of Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties recommend that non-historic vegetation be removed from historic structures as a preservation treatment. Woody growth has taken a foothold within the masonry joints in many locations from Tidelock to Key Bridge.

Park Standard Operating Procedure #M/PW/002 states that vegetation will be removed if within 10 feet of historic structures, with an additional five feet of clearance upon site specific review.

The vegetation removal project, slated for March 14, 2009, will be a volunteer undertaking, lead by park staff. The volunteers will be cutting and removing the growth to the face of the masonry. Park staff, certified in pesticide/herbicide application, will follow workers to spray the cut stems with Garlon 3A. Garlon 3A is approved for applications near water and is approved for use on historic masonry.

The March 14 work day will focus first on the Lock 2 and Level 2 area of the park. If time permits, other areas within the project zone will be addressed. This compliance package will be closed out complete as soon as Lock 2 and Level 2 are completed. Any future work within the project zone will be covered under this compliance review package, with project information added to the hardcopy file.

The park's Interdisciplinary Team reviewed the project for impacts to natural and cultural resources. The project does not pose any serious or long-term effects to the environmental, historical, cultural, archeological, or visual resources. It meets categorical exclusion #C.4 – Routine maintenance and repairs to cultural resources sites, structures, utilities, and grounds if the action falls under an approved Historic Structures Preservation Guide or Cyclic Maintenance Guide, or if the action would not adversely affect the cultural resource.

The project also meets the National Historic Preservation Act/Section 106 Programmatic Agreement, Streamlined Review Process #1 – Preservation Maintenance and Repair of Historic Properties – actions for retaining and preserving, protecting and maintaining, and repairing and replacing in-kind, as necessary, materials and features, consistent with the Secretary of Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and the accompanying guidelines.




Contact Information

For further information about this project, please contact Volunteer Coordinator, at 1850 Dual Highway, Suite 100, Hagerstown, MD 21740.