South County Library Wetland Trail Pedestrian Walkway Project – Roanoke, VA

The South County Library Wetland Trail Pedestrian Walkway project is just a small part of Roanoke County’s master plan to balance its parks’ ball fields and parking lots with nature. A few years ago, the Roanoke County Parks, Recreation, and Tourism department conducted a survey asking what citizens were looking for. Their response was more passive park land: trails, greenways, and natural areas where families can enjoy wildlife.

Bridge Builders worked with Roanoke County to construct this 900 linear foot pedestrian walkway near the South County Library site. The 10′ wide boardwalk features a 10’x30′ overlook platform and will eventually incorporate signs explaining the value of wetlands and its inhabitants.

In some places, the boardwalk is only 18″ above the environmentally sensitive wetlands which contains 30% of the areas plant species. Special environmental permits were granted for the project.

The County of Roanoke required that all work associated with the construction of the wetland boardwalk trail and viewing platform shall be conducted with minimal environmental impact, performed from the deck level and above the grade of the wetland within the trail corridor. As a pioneer in “top-down” construction, Bridge Builders was a “natural” fit and constructed the boardwalk while preserving the surrounding environmentally sensitive areas and wetlands.