News & Events
Environmental Design Proves There’s More Than One Way to Move a Tree in the Golden Isles
For the past four years residents living on Sea Island and St. Simons Island have been part of a one-of-a-kind construction project undertaken by Environmental Design. The Texas-based company has taken up residence along the coast to move trees. And not just any trees. They were hired by the Sea Island Company to relocate Live Oak trees in the Frederica Township development. Many of these trees are over 300,000 pounds and several hundred years old.
The project began in 2003 when Environmental Design was contracted to relocate 900 trees as part of the construction of the new residential golf course development. They were responsible for extricating them from the ground and replanting them in their new location. They were also responsible for the care of the trees after they had been replanted for two months, after which the Sea Island Company took over long-term care.
“Many of these trees are over 100 years old and obviously too large for traditional tree spades,” stated Jason Williams, Central U.S. Operations Manager for Environmental Design. “And we have had to make moves of up to three miles. Our owner, Tom Cox, developed the idea of dragging the trees using excavators and dozers about ten years ago. That method works great down here where we have pretty flat ground.” While most trees require two 345 size excavators and a D6 to get the job done, some of the larger trees actually were moved with three 345’s, a D8 and a D6 dozer.
The process for getting a tree ready to move by dragging over the ground begins simply by digging out around the rootball. A rootball of approximately 30 feet in diameter and four to five feet deep is created. The rootball is then wrapped to hold the dirt together. Steel pipes, often as many as 20, are then hammered underneath the root ball using a Cat 320 excavator with a hammer. These pipes also help stabilize the rootball. After the pipes are chained together the Caterpillar 345 excavators lift the root ball up enough to slide skidplates underneath. The pipes and skidplates are connected together by chains and the tree is ready to move.
Depending on the size of the tree, up to three excavators and two bulldozers may be needed to push and pull the tree anywhere from a few hundred feet to three miles through wooded areas and over haul roads created specifically for movement of the tree. “The most difficult part of the move is the coordination between the 345 operators,” said Williams. “They will keep the tracks of the two machines anywhere from 6” to 10” apart as they are pulling the tree. It takes a lot of skill to be able to concentrate on that over a long period of time.”
“There were several moves we made where we had people stop on the road to watch. All they could see was this enormous oak tree canopy moving off in the distance in the middle of the woods. They couldn’t see the equipment pulling it. I’m sure some of them were not sure what they were seeing,” said Williams.
Once the tree has been relocated it is placed into a new hole up to 42” deep and 30 feet in diameter depending on the size of the tree. The tree is positioned exactly as requested by the Sea Island Company. The tree is cabled to the ground and will remain cabled for two years to help keep it in position as it takes root in its new location.
William de Vos, the consulting arborist for Environmental Design and the Sea Island Company, is responsible for making sure the oaks thrive in their new homes. As president of Treeworks of Montpelier, Vermont, de Vos has received the National Excellence in Abroculture Award eleven times from the Tree Care Industry Association.
The Frederica Golf Project and the Cloister Hotel projects have called for moving over 2,000 to date. As part of the relocation process, data including pH-levels, leaf tissue samples and irrigation readings are used to create readings of each tree. This informaiton is then used to create handmade specific fertizer mixes for each tree so it will flourish in its’ new environment.
Added Williams, “One of the biggest stresses the trees go through is obviously the move itself. Last summer we actually had our water trucks drive alongside of the trees during the summer to water them as they were moving. It was really too hot to move them but we made it through without losing any trees. Over the entire time we have been here our success rate with the trees is over 98%.”
“And once we start moving the tree we go until it’s back in the ground as soon as possible. So it’s really important that the equipment we are using to move the trees is always available. We’ve had a great experience with the equipment we have purchased from Yancey and also the machines we are renting. We own all of our 345’s and we rent everything else. The availability of the rental machines from Yancey has really helped us a lot,” said Williams.
Other equipment is also used on the smaller oak trees that are 30”caliper. Using a 14’ tree spade, a Cat D6 or D8 is used to pull the tree while in the spade to its new location.
Environmental Design will finish this job in the Fall of 2007 and embark on an equally unique project. They have been contracted to assist with the landscaping of the 9/11 Memorial site in New York City. First they will be digging out 400 Swamp White Oak Trees from within 500 miles of the Pennsylvania and New York crash sites and placing them into containers. After growing in the containers at a nursery until they reach 8”-9” in diameter which will take approximately two years, they will be transplanted at the memorial site.
Other notable projects completed by Environmental Design include the movement of the world’s largest tree at the Beau Rivage resort - a 500,000 pound Oak with a 50 foot diameter rootball, the relocation of the fairway Cypress tree along the 18th hole at Pebble Beach, the relocation of pinetrees at Augusta National, and the relocation of the historic Shikma Tree, a 7.5 foot trunk diameter Sycamore Fig Tree in Tel Aviv, Israel. This tree was several hundred years old and relocated to make room for a high-speed rail line.
And for a closer look at how these giant tree movers operate, Environmental Design’s work on restoring a Katrina-ravaged golf course will be featured on the July 18 episode of the History Channel’s MegaMovers. The show will chronicle Environmental Design moving a 400,000lb live oak at the Fallen Oak Golf Couse in Biloxi, Mississippi.
photos courtesy of Bill de Vos, Montpelier, VT
