#74 Digging Deep at Ragged Mountain
This show originally aired on January 17, 2008 on “The Rivanna Rambler,” a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net.
On a bright afternoon during a warm spell earlier in the month, I was part of a group of Ivy Creek Foundation visitors gathered on a hillside above the wooded valley below the Ragged Mountain Dam. We were there to take a look at the drilling operation, part of the geotechnical studies being undertaken by the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority in preparation for expansion of this drinking water reservoir.
Almost at the top of the service road that leads to the caretaker’s house, we park behind a series of trucks and get out with our guide, Chuck Kent, who works for the Service Authority and is overseeing the project. On the downhill side of the road, there’s a steep track that weaves through the woods, barely visible but for rumpled leaves and clumps of fresh earth here and there, and several men in cold weather work clothes are climbing up to greet us.
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