Dredging sludge from the bed of Delaware Park Lake will be a 16-hours-a-day operation through the summer, Public Works Commissioner Francis J. Downing said today.
Work is under way with a hydraulic pump in the eastern end of the lake, near Delaware Ave.
The sludge — as much as six feet deep in some sections — is being pumped through a pipe and dumped outside a stone retaining wall on the southern edge of the lake.
This wall, constructed as part of the clean-up-the-lake project, is a new boundary and forms dry land where formerly there was shallow water.
Will Dredge Entire Bed
Mr. Downing said the sludge fill will cover nearly six acres. This area will be covered with top soil, seeded and landscaped to form additional park land.
He said the water level of the lake will be low during the dredging. This is controlled by adjusting the height of the Scajaquada Creek dam at Grant St.
Fago Bros. Contracting Co. Inc. is doing the dredging under a $296,076 contract awarded in December 1959. Mr. Downing said the work will be completed in September.
The entire bed of the lake will be dredged, with an estimated 150,000 cubic yards of sludge to be removed. An area near the retaining wall has been completed.
Adds 4 Acres to Park Land
Changing the lake’s boundaries will assure a better flow and avoid offensive odors, Mr. Downing said. If necessary to keep the lake fresh during the summer it is planned to empty 2,000,000 gallons of city water into the lake daily from an eight-inch main near Delaware Ave.
Earlier phases of the Park Lake cleanup included the filling of Swan Lake in Forest Lawn Cemetery and of lagoons at the east end of the lake near Delaware Ave. Fill from the Kensington Expressway project was used.
Mr. Downing said this has eliminated areas of stagnant water and gathering places for decayed vegetable matter.
This filled area represents another four acres of park land. It is scheduled to be seeded and landscaped.
