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South Branch 7/24/21:

Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2021 7:40 pm
by BillSmith
Last week Central Jersey Stream Team did an in river clean up on the South Branch of the Raritan river from side street Clawson Rd to Studdiford bridge, about 2 miles. 14 volunteers pulled about 57 tires from the river that day and were left in the parking lot. Unfortunately that night flooding rains came and the river rose 11 feet sweeping the pile right back into the river, a real heartache.
So today 7 of us figured we would get together and see if we could find those tires between Studdiford bridge and the confluence of the North Branch. We were fortunate to find 10 or so from the original pile in a small back eddy near the bridge. What we didn't expect was to pull was about 40 tires from the bottom of the river. So we ended up banking about 50 tires today from a one mile stretch.
Scratching our heads wondering if the original did made it down to Perth Amboy ! On a hunch we checked an island near Robert St on the main stem of the Raritan river and found about 28 from the original clean up. So maybe the other 20 did end up in Perth Amboy, regardless I think it's pretty good numbers. Central Jersey Stream Team has spent the better part of 7 years cleaning the lower half of the South Branch and I spent 3 years cleaning the North Branch so both branches are about 99% percent tire free. Spot clean up will continue throughout the summer and a planned clean up is slated for August on the Rahway river and September back on the main stem of the Raritan river (weather permitting).
If you see something say something, plus if you see something photos, photos and more phots along with location is a huge help.

Re: South Branch 7/24/21:

Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2021 10:32 pm
by BiggerThomas
BillSmith wrote:
Sat Jul 24, 2021 7:40 pm
Last week Central Jersey Stream Team did an in river clean up on the South Branch of the Raritan river from side street Clawson Rd to Studdiford bridge, about 2 miles. 14 volunteers pulled about 57 tires from the river that day and were left in the parking lot. Unfortunately that night flooding rains came and the river rose 11 feet sweeping the pile right back into the river, a real heartache.
So today 7 of us figured we would get together and see if we could find those tires between Studdiford bridge and the confluence of the North Branch. We were fortunate to find 10 or so from the original pile in a small back eddy near the bridge. What we didn't expect was to pull was about 40 tires from the bottom of the river. So we ended up banking about 50 tires today from a one mile stretch.
Scratching our heads wondering if the original did made it down to Perth Amboy ! On a hunch we checked an island near Robert St on the main stem of the Raritan river and found about 28 from the original clean up. So maybe the other 20 did end up in Perth Amboy, regardless I think it's pretty good numbers. Central Jersey Stream Team has spent the better part of 7 years cleaning the lower half of the South Branch and I spent 3 years cleaning the North Branch so both branches are about 99% percent tire free. Spot clean up will continue throughout the summer and a planned clean up is slated for August on the Rahway river and September back on the main stem of the Raritan river (weather permitting).
If you see something say something, plus if you see something photos, photos and more phots along with location is a huge help.
Nice work, Bill. I spend a lot of time in Perth Amboy; I'll be on the lookout for those tires!

Re: South Branch 7/24/21:

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2021 9:20 am
by Rusty Spinner
Great job as always! My business partner and our senior excavator operator, both from Montana, cannot believe the number of tires we encounter on every stream restoration job in the East. We pulled several out of the Lopatcong Creek recently and will likely find a bunch more when we go back to complete that project down at Lock Street soon.

Re: South Branch 7/24/21:

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2021 9:38 am
by martalus
Great hard work and such a high level of commitment to the river! Kudos!

Re: South Branch 7/24/21:

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2021 8:23 pm
by Johnw
Great work by a dedicated group, Bill