Winter 2012 - SCANA Corporation

Working together as
a team, employees
from SCE&G,
Shaw Group and
Westinghouse
completed
construction of the
150-foot bridge in
eight hours.
Don Drzewoszewski
of Shaw and Steven
Fipps of V.C. Summer
enjoy working on
the Palmetto Trail.
“There’s so much history here — so much to see and do,”
said Miller, a quality control supervisor at V.C. Summer
Nuclear Station who, along with local resident Charles
Weber, oversees trail maintenance along the Peak to
Prosperity passage, the newest path along the Palmetto
Trail. “It’s an easy walk and you can spend a day or even
just an hour and enjoy the trail. It’s a great place to bring
your family, play in the creeks and take in the scenery.”
Although the Palmetto Trail is relatively new, its
passages are steeped in history and provide a peek into
the past while weaving through the small towns and
large cities of the state. Featuring primitive pathways
along mountaintops and treks through maritime,
sandhill and Piedmont forests, the Palmetto Trail also
includes urban bikeways, greenways and rail-to-trail
conversions. Several passages include Revolutionary
War battlefields, historic landmarks, unique buildings
and much more.
With nearly 290 miles open to the public, the
Palmetto Trail is two-thirds complete. Built as a series
of “passages,” each is accessible for single-day or multiday
trips. The most popular part of the Palmetto Trail
— the Peak to Prosperity passage — is located near V.C.
Summer Nuclear Station. The trail runs from Alston on
the banks of the Broad River in Fairfield County through
Newberry County just short of Prosperity and provides
ample areas for parking, camping and picnics.
Yet the building of the Palmetto Trail wouldn’t
have been possible without the countless number of
volunteers who worked over the past several years to
help clear, build, maintain and continually improve
the trail. Together with fellow SCE&G employees and
retirees, as well as employees from Shaw Group and
Westinghouse, Miller has played a key role in rebuilding
existing trestles and constructing new bridges to help
fully connect the Palmetto Trail in the Midlands area.
“It’s such a rewarding experience to see the
phenomenal impact we’ve been able to make in
a relatively short period of time, especially when
groups such as SCE&G, Shaw and Westinghouse come
together,” said Miller. “The opening up of this additional
section of trail goes toward the completion goal of
having the Palmetto Trail cross the entire state. It’s a
win-win no matter which way you turn.”
In May, a team of employees from SCE&G, Shaw
Group and Westinghouse helped connect a key portion
of the Peak to Prosperity passage by building a new
150-foot bridge on top of a former train trestle along
the trail.
According to Jim Andersen, field engineering
manager for Shaw Group, the teamwork associated with
the building of the bridge helped the group to complete
the task in eight hours while fostering communication
among the three groups and enabling the volunteers to
make a lasting impact on the local community.
“This effort has been focused on bringing together
all kinds of people,” said Anderson. “Our whole goal
was to bring these engineering entities together for
team building. We wanted to foster relationships while
having a little bit of fun helping complete a portion of
the Palmetto Trail.”
Additional volunteers — including SCE&G employees
and retirees — helped to deck and build a trail along
another former train trestle along the Palmetto Trail.
SCE&G provided funding for the completion of the
580-foot trestle to make the path fully accessible
for those who hike or bike along the trail. Located
along Broad River Road near Peak, S.C., the trestle
was recently renamed the SCE&G Trestle and will be
maintained through the company’s sponsorship of the
Palmetto Trail.
Through the generous time and effort of hundreds
of local volunteers and donations by local organizations
and companies like SCE&G, the Palmetto Trail is
nearing completion. Once finished, the trail, a signature
project of the Palmetto Conservation Foundation, will
run from the mountains to the sea as one of only 16
cross-state trails in the United States.
“This has truly been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
— a chance to support conservation and protect the
culture, history and natural beauty of our state,” said
Miller. “It’s been wonderful to see so many of our
employees want to contribute to the community and
provide something so visible — something that everyone
can enjoy for many years to come.”
To learn more, visit www.palmettoconservation.org.
6 INSIGHTS • WINTER 2012
WINTER 2012 • INSIGHTS 7