I guess they are beginning to see that their Tree crusade is coming to an end, so it appears they are looking for new pastures. What to do next? All that fame and glory, we're a FORCE! We must continue, we're SO important now.

I guess building condos along the canal shoreline could be blended into their 'operation'?



Perhaps.

Never mind... Google has a great view of O'Connor Rd.. right near a dam by a parking lot that is covered by trees. These are the areas that are of concern...the trees are 8 times taller than the earthen embankment they are growing on.. a major issue for issues from uprooting and overhead limbs... these will all have to be removed to conform to the Vegetation-Free zone required for earthen water impounding structures eventually.

Just have to ask yourself a couple questions when looking at Earthen Embankments...

Is the water at the top of the Embankment, inside the waterway, higher than the topography below the embankment, on the outside where people live

Are there trees on the embankments that could uproot and cause a breach that would cause water to overtop the embankment.

That combination is what will cause flooding, and the one that people seem to ignore the most. I saw pictures around this area that show water above the surrounding ground level, being held back by an earthen bank, with trees that are 6x taller than the berm they are growing out of. Could be the view from Google Earth but in any case unsafe OVERHANGING trees are just as much of a problem as Unsafe Dams.

The NY Canal Corporation is fighting Embankment Safety Issues along with "potential" hazardous conditions a Canal Worker might have while INSPECTING that embankment... Isn't the Canal Corp also worried just as much about overhanging limbs & dying trees falling on the Empire Trail causing injury or death?

I'm sure that has now become one of the talking points in their Embankment Integrity Safety Program... as you will see in their new Embankment Integrity Guidebook when they discuss their need for a "vegetation-free" workzone