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Where Do You Begin
The process of building a campground is a lot of work, a lot more work that I thought it would be.
Finding the piece of land takes a lot of walking. We looked at 100 parcels before we found the one we wanted. Once
you find the piece, then planning the campground begins in earnest.
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| Click for Before Pictures |
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| Click for Planning Details |
Major Excavation
On our campground, there are three major elements of excavation. The access road, the camping pads, and the retaining
walls. They all had and continue to have their own special challenges. The road was moved 150' to the south by DOT. The
pads had twice as much dirt moved than we thought they would. The larger wall collapsed after less than six (6) months and
the need for a smaller wall wasn't understood until a natural spring made itself known.
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| Click for Road Details |
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| Click for Pad Construction |
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| Click for Wall Construction |
Structural Elements
When you build a campground you need eletricity, water, sewer, and a utility building to house it all. The electrical feed
is in and run all the way to the utility building. Water and sewer are on the TBD list, and the utility building is almost
complete.
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| Click for Electrical |
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| Click for Water |
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| Click for Sewer |
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| Click for Utility Building |
Storm Water Mitigation
The most difficult issue with the build out was a part of the planning that wasn't understood early on. It came
back to bite us hard about eighteen (18) months into the project.
Let's start with a phone call on this one. In late May 2009, I get a frantic phone call from Dad, who has been running
a backhoe on the property almost every day since early April, and has been there working on trees a few days a week since
early 2008.
He got a visit from State Environmental types with a cease and desist order, a citation about operating without an environmental
permit, a complaint about failure to protect the county watershed from silt pollution, and notice of failure to respond to
an official inquiry.
Dad being Dad told them that he's just a worker and they need to talk to the property owner. No he didn't know how
to contect him, but he would pass the information along at the first opportunity ... that coincidently, just happened to be
a few moments after they left.
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| Click for the Complete Story |
Construction Surprises ...
During every project there are construction surprises. These little gems are all "Oh My" moments that you don't get to
plan for.
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| Locust Tree - Roots! |
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| More Stumps |
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| Spring In Sand Seam |
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| Sand Seam |
Boondocking Area
The boondock area is a long way off. Some of the trees have been cleared. The area is being used to "farm" vegetative
cover for the rest of the project. Once all of the vegetative needs have been met, then the area will be levelled and turned
in to pasture.
| Click for More Information |
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| Road To Boondocking |
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