CVE Master Management Takes Another Step to Improve Durham Canal Area

CVE Master Management is taking another step to improve the area along the Durham Canal, asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help determine whether the canal bank can be strengthened enough to potentially support a concrete wall in the future.

The effort follows concerns raised by Durham residents after CVE Master Management removed significant overgrowth along the canal bank. While the vegetation needed attention, it had also served as a visual barrier between the Durham buildings and Hillsboro Boulevard. Its removal left the buildings more exposed to the roadway than they had been previously.

CVE Master Management has already begun addressing those concerns by installing additional landscaping intended to restore a more substantial visual buffer. Now, at the request of residents, it is also exploring whether more can be done.

The original Hillsboro Boulevard perimeter project has been completed as planned. A solid concrete wall was constructed along portions of the roadway where ground conditions allowed it, while a fence was installed behind Durham. Because the canal runs along the property line in that area, the canal bank could not support the weight of the concrete wall used elsewhere.

CVE Master Management is now investigating whether that could change.

On Aug. 19, CVE Master Management formally requested assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers through its Continuing Authorities Program. The request involves approximately 1,756 linear feet of canal bank along Hillsboro Boulevard and seeks federal assistance in studying ways to strengthen and stabilize the area.

A January geotechnical study found challenging subsurface conditions, including loose to medium-dense sand and groundwater approximately four to six feet below the surface. A preliminary engineering assessment has identified a vegetated riprap system as one possible method of strengthening and protecting the bank.

That concept would use large stone and other materials to stabilize the shoreline while preserving mature trees and existing vegetation wherever practical and adding native vegetation.

The Army Corps request does not mean a concrete wall has been approved or will ultimately be constructed. Rather, it is another step in CVE Master Management’s effort to determine what improvements are possible along this unique stretch of the CVE perimeter.

Combined with the new landscaping already being installed, the study could provide CVE Master Management with additional options for improving the area behind Durham and, potentially, determining whether the canal bank can someday be strengthened sufficiently to support a wall similar to those along other portions of Hillsboro Boulevard.