ATHENS, Ohio — A large log jam has slowly formed on the Currier Street bike bridge in Athens for years. Now, local officials are tasked with finding a way to remove the mass of wooden debris.
Ohio law does not assign responsibility for cleaning up a log jam to any level of government. As a result, any level of government can undertake removal projects, according to the Ohio Stream Management Guide.
In Athens County, County Planner Connor LaVelle has taken on the project on behalf of the county commissioners. The task is a “high priority,” he told the Independent.
LaVelle has two main concerns when it comes to the log jam: its location on the bridge and erosion, caused by the river flowing around it. The jam comprises over 50 logs, plus other pieces of debris, putting significant weight on the bridge.
“The county wants to make sure we can avoid any long-term damage to the bridge structure,” LaVelle said.
The jam is also located in the wellhead protection area for the city of Athens. Log jams can increase flood risk, according to one MIT study. And floodwaters can damage wellheads in several ways, including clogging water intake structures, damaging piping, or eroding the earth around wellheads, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The log jam also has altered the flow of the river, causing erosion; more water is running against the banks, instead of passing through the middle of the channel. LaVelle worries that the altered flow pattern is eroding the riverbank, affecting both the bridge and a nearby railroad.
“We want to make sure that we’re protecting the city’s wells, that we’re protecting the natural banks of the Hocking River, and that we’re protecting our own infrastructure and the railroad’s infrastructure,” LaVelle said.
LaVelle told the Independent that he wishes he could “scoop the jam all out on a weekend,” but the location of the jam complicates the removal process.
The riverbanks on both sides of the jam are very steep, making it difficult to bring in construction equipment without altering the terrain. Alternatively, equipment could be placed on the bridge itself, but the equipment would have to be under the bridge’s load rating.
The county is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers through a program called Section 208, LaVelle told the Independent. The program not only provides expertise for clearing the jam, but also supports feasibility studies to determine ways to prevent them in the future.
The program fully funds up to $100,000 for feasibility studies; costs over that amount are split 50-50 between the local and federal government. About two-thirds of the cost to implement the study’s findings are covered by the federal government, with the other third coming from local governments.
The Athens County commissioners voted to contact the Army Corps of Engineers about a Section 208 feasibility study at their July 15 meeting.
The Independent contacted the Army Corps of Engineers via a contact form on their website In July for comment on this story and did not hear back prior to publication.
Log jam ecology
Although log jams can cause damage from increased flooding and erosion, scientists are increasingly aware that not all jams are bad for the environment.
“[People have] spent a century or so removing wood from rivers, and now the movement is more toward putting wood back into rivers for its ecological [benefit],” said Gary Lamberti, an aquatic science researcher at the University of Notre Dame.
While Lamberti agreed that the Currier Street jam needs to be removed for safety, accumulations of debris away from human structures are less worrying.
Log jams can serve as natural water filters while also providing both food and shelter for aquatic life, Lamberti said. They also capture leaf litter and other organic matter that decomposes in the river. The additional nutrients stimulate plant growth, which attracts wildlife — a key step in the development of a healthy ecosystem.
“The food web, in some ways, kind of starts with this trapping of organic matter in the river and wood is pretty essential for that function,” Lamberti said.
