A new walkway was built for the College of Veterinary Medicine's Southeastern Raptor Center to allow more people to be able to visit the birds at the center.
Undergraduate students from the College of Architecture, Design and Construction spent two weeks working with one another to rid the walkway of gravel by replacing it with previously used cement.
Marianne Hudson, assistant director of raptor training and educations said she noticed the problems with the gravel path at the center.
"Our walkway, up until now, has been large gravel rocks," Hudson said. "These gravel rocks have caused issues for some of our visitors.
Hudson said wheelchairs had difficulty navigating the rocks and so did mothers with infants in strollers and the rocks were too deep and large for wheeled vehicles to be able to navigate
Michael Hein, professor in the School of Building Science, paired with Auburn Facilities Division and private contractors to prepare the site.
Hein led many service learning projects throughout the years and said he felt this project taught him more about the environment.
"It is a way I can continue to use my expertise in engineering to help the environment," Hein said.
For this walkway, previous concrete was used in effort to go greener.
"It has been classified as a green pavement. The EPA has approved it as a best management practice when dealing with storm water," Hein said.
The previous concrete allows for water from storms to soak back into the ground instead of rushing down drains, carrying heavy metals and other destructive substances with it.
Approximately 30 undergraduate students alternated three-hour shifts in order to get the building of the walkway.
After preparing the framework, the graduate students straightened the 340-foot-long, 6.5-foot-wide railroad ties.
John Young, senior in building science, was one of the students working on the site.
"If anything, getting a hands-on experience really makes you respect the people that do this kind of work for a living," Young said. "It's definitely beneficial."
The walkway was completed Nov. 8, and open for tours shortly after.
"Everything went very smoothly," Hudson said. "There will be absolutely no problem now with wheelchairs and strollers and even the elderly to keep their footing on our new substrate."
Young said he saw the project as a success.
"If we are going to do a project, we are doing it for the University, and so we feel like we're helping out," Young said.
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