Background

Clark Island and the smaller adjacent island are located within the Fox River within the City of Batavia. Both are owned and maintained by the Batavia Park District and include improvements constructed during the Great Depression.  In an effort to revitalize the facility the Batavia Park District applied for and received a grant of which is intended to be used to complete improvements stressing safety.

Trotter and Associates teamed with Laflin Design Group to complete the design of the Clark Island Rehabilitation Project Plans which included;

• Shoreline Stabilization of the Toe Sections of Both Islands (Structural)
• ADA Compliant Regional Water Trail Canoe Access Launch
• Woodard Baseball Field Lighting
• BMX Action Park with Street Obstacles and Events
• Fox River Bridges (Two steel truss bridges) and Fishing Stations
• Playground and Path Improvements
• Rehabilitation of the Existing Stone Shelter and Bridge

The most important parts of the project were the installation of two pedestrian bridges because they provided a safe river crossing and link to the City of Batavia utilizing the Fox River Trail.   The other primary concern was to stabilize Clark Island.  To counter erosion from water and ice flows a combination of structural and vegetative stabilization based of the location on the island.

The project included floodplain, floodway, wetlands and historically significant features. Therefore it was necessary to gain permits and approvals from such jurisdictional agencies as the;

• Army Corp of Engineers
• Illinois Department of Natural Resources
• City of Batavia
• Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
• Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
• United States Department of Energy

While subconsultants were involved with the design and construction observation duties of the project, TAI was the project lead and responsible completion of design and production of final engineering plans and specifications.