The floating kayak launch at Four Mile Run Park washed away from its moorings after heavy rainstorms over the weekend.
On Sunday afternoon (Aug. 2), a stabilizing cable that kept the kayak launch in place snapped after too much pressure during high tide from trees and other floating debris. City staff were at the park on Tuesday afternoon to close the walkway leading down to the vacant space. The launch is now resting underneath the Route 1 bridge, and caution tape and a construction sign have been erected to bar anyone from using the walkway.
The $500,000 launch opened to the public last December. It’s the first public ADA-accessible Potomac River paddling access, and was built through a city partnership with the Four Mile Run Conservancy Foundation.
“We will make sure it is stronger than it ever was before,” Kurt Moser, president of the Four Mile Run Conservancy, told ALXnow. “We’ll get it back. I think we can get it back pretty quickly.”
On Tuesday (Aug. 4), city staff at the park said that the only way to bring the launch back is to disassemble it, bring it back in pieces and then reassemble it.
Moser said that the pier isn’t going to be cheap to repair, but that it’s a manageable project.
“The good thing is that it didn’t go way out into the Potomac and we didn’t lose all the pieces,” he said.
New Four Mile Run kayak launch image via City of Alexandria Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities/Facebook
