Flooding plagues construction on Peace River Trail

By Suzie Schottelkotte

FORT MEADE – For Nathan Kautz, there have been days recently when he’s felt more like they’re building a fishing pier than a hiking trail.

“The rain has been pretty bad,” Kautz, who’s overseeing construction of the Peace River Trail in Fort Meade for the state Department of Transportation, said Tuesday while surveying the trail’s progress.

“In some of these areas, we’re still waiting for the water to recede before we can go back in and finish the job," he said.

“Luckily, it hasn’t held us up too much, though,” he said. “When water forces us to leave one place, we just go to another area and work there.”

Crews have completed a 72-foot wooden foot bridge spanning the Peace River, but they can’t finish building the trail, made of compacted coquina shells, because the approaches on both sides of the bridge are flooded.

But the water is showing signs of receding.