MARQUETTE — Work is nearly finished on this year’s Presque Isle erosion control project.  Crews from Smith Paving are putting the finishing touches on the project that began last fall. Director of Parks and Recreation Hugh Leslie said the project was 90 percent complete when it stopped for the winter.  The project was designed to save a stretch of road endangered by continuing erosion.  “We’re just making sure the rocks that were placed there don’t have any large holes. Because they’re so big there’s a chance you can get holes almost like a cave,” Leslie said. “So the contractor is going back in and moving some of the rocks and putting some fill rocks in there.”


Leslie said the contractor will also replace some topsoil between the road and the area where the work was done.  “We’re trying to get it in before the island road opens up next week and trying to wrap it up so it doesn’t inconvenience the public,” Leslie said.  The road around Presque Isle is set to open at 7 a.m. Monday.  The $144,160 erosion and sediment control project included placement of several natural, five-ton stones — about the size of refrigerators — along 350 feet of the water’s edge on the west side of the island, north of the pavilion. The rocks are designed to break down waves before they reach the sandstone shore.