TURIN — The town is putting the finishing touches on a new, grant-funded boat launch along the Black River near the Burdicks Crossing Road bridge.

“It is open for public use,” town Supervisor Gerald R. Reed Jr. said.

The concrete launch was funded by a $9,900 grant from Iroquois Gas Transmission Inc., with much of the work done by town highway workers, Mr. Reed said.

The town also used a Gradall from the Lewis County Highway Department and a bulldozer from the town of Martinsburg, while the Lewis County Soil and Water Conservation District assisted with mulching and hydro seeding at the site, he said.

The Tug Hill Commission also assisted the town with the grant application and administration, while the state Department of Environmental Conservation provided help with permitting, as well as use of a special tool to put ridges in the concrete slope.

“Traction will never be an issue,” Mr. Reed said.

A boat launch was installed about 20 years ago on town-owned property just downriver from the new one, he said.

However, that one didn’t have a concrete base and has seen some washout over the years because of the stronger current at that location, Mr. Reed said.

“That’s really been a canoe launch,” he said.

The new site was chosen both for its calmer water and for the willow trees on either side, which should help limit erosion on the adjacent banks, Mr. Reed said.

The launch features a 116-foot-long concrete slab up the slope from the river to a parking area, which is being filled in with gravel.

The project took about a month to complete, Mr. Reed said.

“We had perfect weather and perfect schedules,” he said.

Even with water levels extremely low because of the historically dry summer, a boat could be launched successfully from the site, Mr. Reed said.

“I don’t think we’ll ever have to worry about not being able to launch on it,” he said.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony likely will be held either this fall or next spring, Mr. Reed said.

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