Alabama Power building road to Hog Island

Staff Reports

Alabama Power Co. spokesperson Buddy Eiland confirmed to The Post last week that efforts are underway to construct a temporary road near Driftwood Campground that will connect to Hog Island.

The company plans to take advantage of the low water level to remove several hundred acres of timber from the massive island, located north of Centre and west of Cedar Bluff near where Little River empties into Weiss Lake.

"We're building a road out to the island on an old railroad bed," Eiland said. "We'll be using rip-rap and oak mats to secure the road so we can get heavy equipment out there."

The roadway, which will connect to County Road 600 and extend about a quarter-mile across the now-dry lake bed, will be removed when the project is completed.

"If the weather holds up, the process of cutting the timber should take 8-12 weeks," he said. "Then we'll haul the mats and rip-rap back out of there after we're finished."

Eiland said Alabama Power already has all of the appropriate federal permits, including permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"We've also been in touch with the Marine Police, so they can float some buoys around the roadway to keep boaters from running up on it unexpectedly," he said.

He said timber cutters will get no closer than 600 ft. to an active eagle's nest located on the island.

"There are some other sites on the island where we think there may be some eagle nests and we're going to preserve those, too," he said. "We'll stay 400 ft. away from them."

Eiland said cutting the timber amounts to prudent management of the lake area which would have been cost-prohibitive without building the temporary road.

"We're trying to make the best of a bad situation," he said.