On September 18, 2006, Worth and I went to Maryland to restore a thirty acre wetland site; the site will be used to offset detrimental impacts that will be caused by an upcoming expansion to the Salisbury Airport.  The site is about twenty miles SSW of Salisbury Maryland on the scenic Eastern Shore.

Project Manager Worth Creech points to the Salisbury Maryland Wetland Restoration Site; it is roughly thirty acres and lies just beyond the tree line to the left.

Gary Wilkerson excavates a ditch so that bentonite fabric can be installed.  The fabric is used to help plug the ditches in order to create a wetland.   

Now that the fabric is installed, Gary begins filling up the excavated trench; Worth ensures that the fabric remains vertical so that maximum water blockage can be obtained.  The bentonite fabric is called Voltex DS and the Salisbury site is the first time Restoration Systems has ever used the material.  Bentonite has a unique property that makes it expand when saturated, making it the perfect material for ditch plugging.   

Worth and Joe Berg, the designer of the project, look on as Gary puts some finishing touches on the plug.  You can barely see some extruding Voltex fabric below Joe’s feet.  

Worth and Preston work late into the evening to complete the last plug on the site.  Several months before construction, ground wells were installed so that water levels could be monitored and recorded.  There were a total of thirteen plugs on the site and everyone expects the water level to rise significantly after the completion of the construction.