Grangebel Park’s storm-damaged gravel walkways replaced with asphalt

Grangebel Park’s gravel paths, constructed in 2010 and destroyed by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, have been ripped out and replaced with asphalt walkways.

The paths, built by the contractor who completed a $1.37 million site improvement contract, were constructed using a porous, flexible plastic paving material forming a base to hold gravel filling in place. The design was supposed to provide a permeable surface that can handle vehicular traffic, as well as bicycles and wheel chairs, according to the manufacturer’s website.

The plastic paving grids that were installed proved problematic from the start, according to former Riverhead town engineer Ken Testa. He said the plastic sheets buckled when they expanded in the heat.

The town tried cutting pieces out to allow for expansion and re-anchoring the matting, Testa told RiverheadLOCAL in 2013. But along came Superstorm Sandy — the Oct. 29, 2012 storm left most of the park was under water.

The town engineer said at the time he’d “prefer to use something else given what’s transpired” but said the town’s options are limited.

“It must be permeable and it must be bicycle-friendly,” he said, noting that the funding for the gravel paths, which cost $98,000 to install, came from a grant to construct bicycle paths specifically. The permeability requirement was required by the state DEC as a water-protection measure, Testa said.

The new walkways were installed by Corazzini Asphalt, which bid $266,300 on the job this summer and was the lowest of three bidders, according to a bid report. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is funding 90 percent of the cost in storm recovery aid and the state’s division of homeland security and emergency services is providing 10 percent of the funding.