A turtle eyes us as we paddled by. Story and photos by David Atchison
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a continuing series written by David Atchison, Lakeside Magazine writer and Daily Home Pell City news editor, about his experiences as he travels down the Logan Martin stretch of the Alabama River Trail. We debated whether we should paddle that early Friday afternoon because stormy weather surrounded us. “I’m going whether you go or not,” said Bobby McDaniel of Lincoln. McDaniel is in training, getting in shape to paddle the 631-mile plus Alabama Scenic River Trail, which spans from north Georgia to Gulf Shores. “I guess we’ll give it a try,” I said. We left Bobby’s place in Lincoln, located just across the old “Green Bridge” between Lincoln and Riverside, and headed down river. We were paddling one of the widest parts of Logan Martin Lake. I feared we could get caught in a storm while in the middle of the channel, but once we left the shore my fear subsided. In really bad weather, Logan Martin Lake can turn into an ocean, and it is a little worrisome in a small, narrow kayak. A kayak, it’s not like a boat with a big powerful engine strapped onto the back. It takes time to reach the shore, especially in this section of the lake between the Green Bridge and Riverside Marina. You have to cover a lot of water to cross from the Talladega to St. Clair County side of the lake. Bobby and I talked as we paddled down the river and about how distances are deceiving on the lake. Things appear a lot closer when paddling on the water. As we approached the I-20 bridge, which spans across Logan Martin Lake, we noticed large barges tied to the bridge. There was a truck on one of the large flat surface barges with an Alabama Department of Transportation logo on it. We wondered what ALDOT was doing around the pillars of the 40-year-old bridge, so after we got back from out trip, I called Gary Smith, the ALDOT district engineer for our area. ALDOT is apparently performing some foundation exploration around the I-20 bridge. ALDOT plans to widen the I-20 bridge from four to six lanes. “It shouldn’t be too far in the future, if funds become available,” Smith said. Plans for a new I-20 bridge have been on the drawing table for some time. The new bridge will have 10-foot shoulders, and ALDOT will first build a new middle section between the existing bridge. ALDOT will then tear down one section of the old bridge, like the eastbound section, and replace it, before tearing down the westbound section of the old bridge. One of the main reasons I called Smith was to find out why concrete steps led from the interstate down to the water’s edge. I thought it could have allowed access for the bridge builders of the past, or perhaps act as an emergency access to the water from I-20. “I really don’t know,” Smith said. “A lot of our old bridges have steps running down the slope. I never asked why.”
Continued on Page 28
LAKESIDE LIVING & LOGAN MARTIN HOMES, OCTOBER 2009
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