COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) -
News Leader 9 took a trip down to the banks of
the Chattahoochee River Saturday morning as student volunteers worked to remove
debris. Recent dam breaches exposed hundreds of historical artifacts.
Those artifacts were collected and archived as debris was removed to make way
for whitewater rafting.
The students stood on rocks and worked along the cleared waters underneath the
13th & 14th Street bridges.
"They are removing stuff that could be hazardous. For example some of
these cables and some of this metal in the river is not a good thing,"
John Turner said.
Students in Servant
Leadership groups from across the valley spent the morning clearing out old
cans, tools, and even an old musket found above the Eagle & Phenix Dam.
A group of Brookstone High School students told us they are eager to see
whitewater rafting come to Columbus and did not mind spending their Saturday
morning bringing the much anticipated project one step closer to completion.
"It's a really big
project for the whole city and we just thought it would really be a good idea
to come out and help everybody out, because they need as much help as they can
get. There is trash everywhere," said Max Williams.
Like the artifacts found in
the water, John Turner says the river is unique and is expected to attract
people from all over the world.
"This is a very
exciting river. We've got some characteristics that most rivers do not. For
example we have flow 365 days a year," said Turner.
Brookstone Junior, Ali Mac
Jinks, has been waiting for that constant river flow for quite some time and
she's even thought of making a career out of it.
"I really want to be
like a rapid guide and have that as a job or something so I've been excited
about it for the past five years," said Jinks.
Turner says the
project is expected to reshape and change the face of Columbus, bringing clean
whitewater rafting to an urban setting.
Copyright 2012 WTVM. All rights reserved.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WTVM, a Raycom Media Station.
