water supply programs of the State. To maximize benefits from this project, the State has 

 utilized the 1961 Act to provide recreation facilities for this site consisting primarily of a 

 launching facility for trailered small craft, an all-weather fishing pier, and a small marina 

 installation to be leased to a concessionaire for berthing rental boats. 



During periods of drought, when water demands are at peak level, the reservoir 

 experiences an average drawdown of about 10 feet. This was a major problem in project 

 design, but was not the only problem. Most of the reservoir site is underlain by limestone 

 with varying tliicknesses of overburden. The discovery of many sinkholes in the adjacent 

 land area motivated a decision not to drive pilings of any kind for fear of piercing the 

 mantle. Not only would this be unsafe for structural support, but could lead to the loss of 

 storage water through hidden sinkholes. 



The problem of variable drawdown was solved at the marina installation by articulating 

 the landing ramps and floating dock units. Piano hinges fabricated from heavy pipe sections 

 allowed the necessary relative movement between floating and grounded units, at the same 

 time keeping the sections together. An elevation view showing the landing configuration is 

 presented in Figure 171. 



The floating-dock sections were fabricated from 24-inch-diameter steel pipe with 

 seal- welded end plates. As a further precaution against vandalism, the pipes were filled with 

 polyurethane foam. The entire floating system is fixed in place with hand-adjustable cables 

 and anchors. At the landward end, near the paved slope areas, the guide cables were rigidly 

 attached to the concrete pavement slab. 



The launching ramp facility consists of two adjacent ramps separated by one boarding 

 dock and flanked by two others. The ramps are of reinforced concrete slabs on compacted 

 subgrade, with a 12 percent lakeward slope. The pontoon units that make up the 

 132-foot-long boarding docks are hinged together in the same fashion as the marina's 

 floating docks, but are guided by reinforced concrete guideposts that were integrally poured 

 with the concrete ramp (Fig. 172). 



The nearby fishing pier is semicircular in plan, with two shore ends about 50 feet apart. 

 Trestle supports of the pier are kept ice free during the winter months by a compressed-air 

 bubbling system, which was installed so that the facihty could be used year round. The 

 submerged bubble line is made of 0.75-inch-diameter perforated polyethylene tubing that 

 follows each side of the concrete pad. Air is supplied by a 1-inch polyethylene line that 

 extends underground from a landside valve pit until it emerges through the bank slope about 

 4 feet below the high water line. 



These three facilities are well designed and well integrated into a single installation that 

 should be a high-use recreation area. 



(5) Still Waters Marina. Lake Martin is a landlocked lake which, like many other 

 lakes and watercourses in central Alabama, is well fished, cruised, and used for water skiing. 

 Typically, the craft using these inland waters are smaU inboard runabouts, outboard cruisers, 



281 



