The Kamloops Therapeutic Riding Association (KTRA) needed a better maintained driveway for individuals using their services and Dawson Construction was happy to lend helping hands in support of this program.
“Having this type of community support really enables us to continue to create opportunities for personal growth, healing and connection through a shared experience with horses,” said Ashley Sudds, KTRA Executive Director.
KTRA is a local non-profit organization that provides therapeutic horseback riding to individuals with disabilities. Therapeutic riding has several positive physical effects for those in the program, using the horse as a means of influence. There are also mental and emotional benefits of riding, such as: increased self-esteem, improved concentration and improved social skills.
One prevalent issue with the program was their driveway, as the pavement was significantly bumpier than any trail ride – a less than ideal situation for vehicles containing patients with physical disabilities and trucks towing horse trailers.
“They approached us last August, looking for a solution to the issues they were having with their driveway. We went out to see what kind of shape it was in and it only took one second to realize the rough shape the driveway was in,” said Amanda Fulton, Estimator. “It was evident that KTRA could use some help to solve their driveway issues. Dawson Construction came up with the idea of donating a gravel driveway to KTRA.”
In order to properly remove the old, crumbly driveway, a little help was needed from Project Manager Matt Vandenbrink and his Dawson Civil team. They peeled back the old asphalt on a Saturday morning in late November and trucked it away to the Knutsford yard to be recycled for future use. Once the driveway was cleaned out, Paving Superintendent Harley Rail and his team showed up with a few truckloads of gravel from our Davidson pit, located in Knutsford. They laid down the gravel over the 650 m2 driveway, using equipment to pack it into place, making it significantly smoother and safer for clients and snow removal moving forward.
