what is the stream restoration project?



The streambed restoration project is a Fairfax County undertaking, designed in consultation with the Civic Association of Hollin Hills (CAHH) and members of the community, to restore and stabilize the dangerously eroded streambeds in Goodman and Brickelmaier Parks and restore the parks to safety, ecological health, and natural beauty. 



As well as fixing the erosion that’s damaging the parks, the project will also remove invasive plants that have overrun the woodlands, and plant more than 4,000 native trees and understory plants – creating a more diverse, natural and sustainable ecosystem. 



The project will also remove dead and dying trees, replace the broken storm sewer from Martha’s Road and the two culverts under Paul Spring Road, and assist in removing sediment from the run-off into the Chesapeake Bay watershed, improving water quality.



While the Civic Association owns and maintains the parks, the total cost of the restoration – estimated at $3.6 million – is beyond its means. Fairfax County will be funding the construction, as the project also achieves the County’s own objectives in improving the Chesapeake Bay watershed. 



what can we expect during the project?



Work in the two parks began in April 2021, and is expected to last 420 calendar days, or about 14 months. Both parks will be closed to the public during that time (including pets). 



On weekdays, work will begin at 7 a.m. and typically last 8 to 10 hours, though work is permitted to continue until 9 p.m. if necessary. Work is also allowed on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (and on Sunday with three weeks’ advance notice). There will be periodic deliveries of material to the staging areas throughout the week, starting after 7 a.m. on weekdays (or after 9 a.m. on weekends). It will be noisy, but the County has added noise attenuation measures to the lower portions of the project, and County officials will ensure that noise levels are within allowed limits. 



We should expect to see people on site from Fairfax County, Environmental Quality Resources LLC (the contractor), and Stantec (the design engineers), as well as a team from Pennoni (surveyors). Workers will access the site from staging areas on Paul Spring Road, and will park in a designated section of the pool parking lot, within the site or in other public areas where they do not block traffic or driveways.



what will the work entail? 



The deep gulches in the parks will be graded and stabilized, and about 1,800 linear feet of the stream channels will be restored using ‘Natural Channel Design’ techniques. 



Boulders, wood and other materials will be used to rebuild the winding stream beds and mitigate erosion. Temporary unpaved access roads will be prepared along the stream beds to allow track trucks and excavators access to the work areas, with temporary infrastructure set up to protect trees and provide safety. 



Trees are protected with geotextile cloth, mulch, timber mats, planking, and other methods. 



will some trees have to be removed? 


While some 79 trees with a diameter of 12” or more will have to come down, most of these are dead, dying, subject to near-term death from the ash borer insect, or located on the stream embankment and subject to falling on their own even without construction. A total of 33 healthy trees will be removed, as well as other small trees and saplings.



will the work areas be replanted?



Yes – quite thickly! Once the streambed is restored, the work area will be replanted with more than 745 native trees, replacing the non-native species with a natural, sustainable native tree population. 

Moreover, the current groundcover – which is now 70 percent non-native invasives, including the much-hated english ivy – will be replaced with more than 3,300 native shrubs, ferns, grasses, flowers and other plants. 



The project involves some short-term pain, as the construction takes place. But our long-term gain will be healthy, ecologically-balanced parks thriving with native trees and plants.


what will be planted, and who will maintain it? 



The more than 4,000 new native plants will include overstory trees such as pin oak, swamp oak, sweet gum, red oak, beech, black gum, chestnut oak, white oak, sycamore, and red maple. 

New understory trees will include pawpaw, hornbeam, redbud, dogwood, sassafras, sweetbay magnolia, alder, service berry, holly, and wax myrtle. There will also be native ferns, riparian grasses, and other groundcover plants.



Replanting will occur in spring, fall and/or winter, so planting may be delayed due to the season. The plantings are warrantied for one year, and the County will monitor and maintain them for a total of three years. 
 


will this help restore the natural ecosystem?



Yes. Goodman and Brickelmaier are floodplain/stream-based forestland, in which native plants in the floodplain along the streams depend on periodic inundation from floodwaters overflowing the streambeds. 



But the deeply-eroded streambeds now prevent the streams from overflowing and providing water to plants in the floodplain, so the ecosystem no longer functions as it should. Grading the deep incisions and restoring the streambeds will once again tie the streams to their adjoining floodplain terraces, allowing plants to thrive. 



Moreover, the new plantings of native species will be in groupings that would occur as part of an ecological community, creating a diverse habitat supportive of native insects, birds, and animals.



will this also benefit the chesapeake bay?


Yes. Our streams are relatively small, but due to their slope and headwater nature, when combined with other similar streams within the watershed, there will be a positive impact on the Chesapeake Bay. 



will wildlife be affected by the work?



Wildlife will be affected while the construction is underway. But birds and other animals are expected to return within a year after the work is completed, and will come back to a more diverse habitat with better sources of food and easier access to water and shelter.



what will the parks look like when the project is finished?



Right now, Goodman and Brickelmaier are in poor shape. Steep trenches (some as much as 16 feet deep) make the parks unsafe, especially for kids; there’s a broken storm sewer line and orange plastic safety fencing in Goodman; invasive plants have overrun the parks, crowding out native species; one of the culverts under Paul Spring Road has completely collapsed; and it’s difficult even to approach, let alone enjoy, the streams themselves. 



But when the construction is finished and the new trees and plants have had some time to grow in, Goodman and Brickelmaier will be transformed. 

The deep gulches will become gently-sloping stream banks, with walking paths along the meandering streams and elsewhere through the parks. The tangle of invasive species will be replaced with thousands of native plants, creating a healthy ecosystem and natural habitat for a diverse range of animals. The dead and diseased trees along the streams will be replaced with native species. The plastic safety fencing will be gone, and the damaged sewer and culverts replaced. 



Not only will the parks be restored to safety and ecological health – they’ll be places of beauty again, too.



what if something goes wrong in the future – are we on the hook?



No. The County is responsible in perpetuity for all repairs and maintenance of the infrastructure, and will repair the streambeds if they ever sustain damage – whether in ten years, or a hundred. It will monitor the streambeds at least every five years in perpetuity. The materials used in the stream infrastructure are durable enough to withstand a level of flooding that only occurs once every hundred years. 



is a lower-impact alternative possible?

Some have suggested doing nothing in the parks, merely putting up more safety fencing and letting nature take its course. Others have suggested putting logs in the streams to mitigate the erosion, but the County believes this approach is not effective in areas as steep as Goodman and Brickelmaier.

was the community involved in the planning?

Yes. The planning has been open, transparent and inclusive from the beginning, with Fairfax County officials holding five public meetings between 2017 and 2019 to discuss the project and gather input from all interested parties. These meetings involved both CAHH members and non-members, were extensively reported in the Hollin Hills Bulletin (which also published a range of views on the project) and were reported on the Fairfax County website.

Banners announcing the project were placed at the park entrances and at the entry to our community on Paul Spring Road. Door hangers announcing the project were hung on approximately 100 houses surrounding each park, and the CAHH Parks Committee hand delivered letters to each of the neighboring properties.

County officials also held on-site talks to answer questions and listen to ideas, and have maintained an open-door policy throughout. The plan underwent a number of revisions as a result of this community involvement.

When the County plan was finalized, it was presented to the members of the Civic Association and other community members in November 2019, where it was discussed and overwhelmingly approved in an open democratic vote.

who should I contact with questions?



For questions on design: 


Meghan Fellows, Project Manager

Meghan.Fellows@fairfaxcounty.gov

703 324-5500 TTY 711



For questions on construction:


Janet Grubb-Webber, Construction Manager

Janet.Grubb-Webber@fairfaxcounty.gov

703 324-5111 TTY 711

why the civic association supports the project

Here are the the key reasons the Civic Association is engaging in the Goodman and Brickelmaier stream restoration project, and what effect it will have in our parks.

I. PROJECT IMPETUS:

A. The Civic Association of Hollin Hills (as the property owner) reached out to Fairfax County and asked for their assistance in addressing the community’s concerns in their stream valley parks of increasing erosion and of a broken lateral sanitary sewer line.

B. The real problem in our stream valley parks is erosion and the deep chasms that are being created as both streams continue to down cut into their Coastal Plain geology. This is a sedimentary formation that is composed of a fragile lens of soil, silt, sand, and cobble interspersed with clay layers (primarily marine clay). In one segment of Brickelmaier Park, the stream has continued its down-cutting pattern – 10-12 feet deep in August 2016 to over 16 feet just three years later (August 2019). Flooding is not the primary issue in our two stream valley parks even with the occasional overflow onto Paul Spring Road from Goodman Park.

II. GOALS:

A. Reconnecting the ecological systems of the streams and their flood plains is a primary goal of the restoration project. Currently, much of the floodplain terrace has been disconnected from its association with its stream. Native plants on the terraces depend on the periodic inundation of overflowing floodwaters in the floodplain. This is no longer occurring, as streams which at one time were at or no more than 3 to 4 feet below the floodplain terrace are now as much as 10-18 feet below the terrace.

B. Removal of invasive plants and replacement planting of over 745 native trees and 3297 native shrubs and ferns (100% Plan set, January 2020) in the two parks will do much to return the parks to a much healthier ecological habitat, supportive of native insects, birds, and animals. New plantings will be in logical groupings that would occur as part of an ecological community and will receive some sort of deer protection.

C. The stream restoration project will benefit more than our immediate ecology and safety. The removal of local TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Loads—sediment, bacteria, PCBs) sediments is driven by; 1) the Chesapeake Bay Agreement, in which the partnering states—VA, MD, DC, DE, PA, WV— agreed to restore the Bay health and ecosystem; and 2) Fairfax County’s requirement to meet established metrics to continue to hold their Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Permit (MS-4).

III. IMPLEMENTATION:

A. Tree removal, although required to complete the project, has been minimized to the greatest extent possible. The total number of trees surveyed in Goodman Park was 294 trees and in Brickelmaier park was 237 trees (100% Plan set, January 2020) — on both CAHH and private property. The surveyed trees are generally 8”-12” or greater in diameter at breast height (DBH). The purpose of surveying trees on private property was to ensure their location was known and that they would be protected during any construction activities as long as they were 8” or greater in DBH. A sub-sample of the vegetation in Goodman Park showed that approximately 35% of the native trees under 8” DBH are ash trees, subject to the ash borer insect and facing a likely 100% chance of dying in the near term. An additional 25% of the trees in Goodman Park under 8” DBH are non-native invasive species. As of the completion of the 100% construction plan set shared with the community in February 2020, 79 trees over 12” DBH were slated for removal between the two parks (details below). The number of trees to be removed was reduced in every iteration of the design plans although there may be a slight increase in trees to be removed due to an expansion of the work across Paul Spring Road where Goodman Stream empties into Paul Spring Stream. Additionally, the effects of the emergency work performed by Fairfax County Stormwater Division that addressed the July 2019 has caused several surveyed trees to fall.

Tree statistics per the final 100% construction plan set

1. Goodman showed 41 trees to be removed (down from the 46 trees identified in the 65% plans in August 2019).

a. 4 are ash trees.
b. 10 trees are on stream embankment and may fall on their own without any construction activity.
c. 7 trees to be removed because they are dead or dying.

2. Brickelmaier showed 38 trees to be removed (down from the 49 trees identified in the 65% plans in August 2019).

a. 7 are dead
b. 18 are on stream embankment and may fall on their own without any construction activity.

B. Funding: The stream restoration project is fully funded by Fairfax County via its stormwater tax which appears as a separate line item on Fairfax County property tax bills. Fairfax County will continue to maintain the permanent stream restoration components in perpetuity and will maintain the plant materials for 1-3 years following installation.

C. Project Metrics:

1. 100-year flood – stream restoration work will not increase the flood risk in the event of a 100-year storm/flood event

2. 1”-2" storm is bank full (calibration of amount of water that will fill to the bank top before spilling out into the surrounding floodplain; a 1”-2” is a storm somewhere between a 1- and 2-year event and is often referred to as a 2” storm; however when looking at the last 10-years of rainfall data, Fairfax County can get a 2” storm about once every 0.8 years in some areas of the county.

3. Stream restoration facility life span is appropriately not calculated (unlike other infrastructure often formed from concrete such as noise wall or pipes that do get built with a defined lifespan). The intent is that the materials are able to withstand a 100-year flood. However, should that not be the case, for examples if we experience a 200- or 500-year event, or for that matter, any event that damages the facility, Fairfax County has an in-perpetuity maintenance responsibility for the stream infrastructure.

news + updates

The restoration of the streambeds in Goodman and Brickelmaier Parks is now underway, a project that will fix the dangerous chasms and remove the invasive plants that have overrun the parks, replanting with native species to establish a healthy, diverse native ecosystem and habitat for wildlife. 




For safety reasons, there will be no public access to Goodman and Brickelmaier Parks during the construction, which will last into mid-2022.

For additional information about the project, please go to the Fairfax County Stormwater Planning Division website.

August 12, 2021

Environmental Quality Resources (EQR) has shifted the focus of work in Brickelmaier to channel construction. EQR has completed approximately 1/3 of the length of the stream. (See photo below.) There are more complicated structures lower in the stream, and the soil in the stream is now wet from groundwater which makes it a little more complicated moving forward. EQR is receiving deliveries of the different materials to be used in constructing the stream and some of the material has been installed. The orange fencing will remain as long as the site is in the active construction phase.

We do not have a firm start date for construction of the stream in Goodman Park, however, the park remains closed. A County sign will be installed either Friday or early next week indicating that this is a County project. We walked the area with the installers earlier this week to select a location.

Two-week look ahead:

Instream work will continue for the next several weeks. The work will be predominantly on Monday – Thursday, although weather delays/structure builds may create more unexpected work hour extensions (into Friday). Note, the weather reports for next week suggest we may be getting heavy rain and strong winds.

Weekend activities:

No Saturday or Sunday work is currently scheduled. 

Coordination:

Hollin Hills Homes Tour – September 25/September 26 

contact info

For questions on design, please contact: 


Meghan Fellows, Project Manager

Meghan.Fellows@fairfaxcounty.gov

703 324-5500 TTY 711



For questions on construction, please contact:


Janet Grubb-Webber, Construction Manager

Janet.Grubb-Webber@fairfaxcounty.gov

703 324-5111 TTY 711

mailing list

If you would like to receive periodic email updates on the restoration from project manager Meghan Fellows, please send your contact information to: Meghan.NoeFellows@fairfaxcounty.gov

resources

photos