Spyder Hoe makes news!
#1
Posted 02 August 2008 - 01:30 PM
Mount Doug Park creek pressured by stormwater runoff
Richard Watts, Times Colonist
Published: Saturday, August 02, 2008
Supporters of Mount Douglas Park have hired Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider Hoe to make a creek safe for salmon once again.
The Friends of Mount Douglas Park have partnered with a number of other groups to turn the lower section of Douglas Creek, which winds through the park, back into salmon-spawning ground.
Bob Bridgeman, director for streams for the group, said the spider hoe's four articulating legs can step in and over obstacles to construct log weirs, and then see them held in place with cables tied in to large riverside rocks.
These weirs are all part of an attempt to hold spawning gravel in place during the winter months, when the creek can become a torrent of stormwater runoff.
Bridgeman said support from groups such as the Pacific Salmon Foundation, the Hong Kong Bank of B.C., local government and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have provided about $11,500 for the restoration work.
In recent years restoration efforts have met with some success, with as many as 100 fish returning to spawn in 2006. But last year especially heavy runoff wiped out much of past efforts at stream rehabilitation.
"You get such a rush of water down here. You would have to see it to believe it," said Bridgeman.
He said it's a common problem with urban streams, which are often used for stormwater management to drain large areas of roadworks, parking lots and other impervious surfaces.
And the storm water also picks up pollutants, like oil, dripping from cars, presenting another problem.
But Bridgeman said measures can be taken and eventually Douglas Creek can support a sustainable salmon run.
"We are marching ahead, albeit with baby steps," he said.
rwatts@tc.canwest.com
#2
Posted 02 August 2008 - 01:32 PM
-City of Victoria website, 2009
#3
Posted 02 August 2008 - 03:41 PM
#4
Posted 04 August 2008 - 11:14 PM
#5
Posted 04 August 2008 - 11:42 PM
"Harry, we need extra people working on this budget."
"Frank, it's not that difficult. No need to spyder hoe it at this point."
-City of Victoria website, 2009
#6
Posted 05 August 2008 - 09:22 AM
#7
Posted 05 August 2008 - 03:49 PM
I had mixed feelings when I seen that in the news....it's not me. But oh well, I am still the only one based on the Island and it will no doubt raise awareness. If it gets people on the Island searching the net they will find me.
Here are a couple shots of one of my recent projects if anyone is interested. It's too bad I couldn't do anything next to the trees. The rest of the yard is beautiful but the sod goes right up to edge of the property line.
The shots of the Spyder Hoe holding the huge boulder are the same just one from outside and one from inside the cab. Hows that for Spyder Hoe power eh!? Crazy little machine amazes even me at times.
Vancouver Islands Spyder Hoe
spyderhoesolutions.ca
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#8
Posted 05 August 2008 - 05:25 PM
#9
Posted 05 August 2008 - 08:15 PM
#10
Posted 05 August 2008 - 08:21 PM
My 2 year old nephew was in town last month and I learned that the BIG event in his life was that a "digger" waved at him. He's so obsessed with construction machinery. I was fantasizing about hiring you and your machine for a half hour sometime when both you and the kidlet were in town just to give him a chance to get close to one.
Sort of related, sort of unrelated...I remember being a little kid and being obsessed with heavy machinery (imagine that, what I do now, what a surprise)...but one of the highlights to a day or the way a bad day in the crane turns to be a little more light is when I look down and see a little kid, boy or girl looking up and pointing at the crane, and i wave down to them...brings a smile to my face everytime...
#11
Posted 05 August 2008 - 08:28 PM
#12
Posted 05 August 2008 - 08:32 PM
HA! I told him I 'knew' a crane operator. I got massive cool points. I would have explained it was an online "knowing" but I figured, he's two. I can explain that when he is older. Besides, I figure if I ever get called on it you'll come through for me.
HAHA - its the 21st "knowing" works for me! - anytime, anyone has a kid, niece or nephew, grandkid etc, give me a heads up and I'll keep an eye out!
#13
Posted 06 August 2008 - 06:36 AM
That *made* his year.
Later, a friend who is a cop said that, in his opinion, encounters like this are what make for a well-adjusted, happy person - the kid learns that strangers are kind and that a child's dreams are realizable: wonderful things can happen.
#14
Posted 06 August 2008 - 07:58 AM
Vancouver Islands Spyder Hoe
spyderhoesolutions.ca
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#15
Posted 06 August 2008 - 07:59 AM
#16
Posted 08 August 2008 - 07:00 AM
Vancouver Islands Spyder Hoe
spyderhoesolutions.ca
Facebook page
#17
Posted 08 August 2008 - 08:33 AM
#18
Posted 28 August 2008 - 03:43 PM
Vancouver Islands Spyder Hoe
spyderhoesolutions.ca
Facebook page
#19
Posted 28 August 2008 - 04:29 PM
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