DIXFIELD – Working on a cold, raw day under light rain on Saturday, five members of the Dirigo High School ecology club labored to build steps in an eroded area and construct a dam for the bank of Newton Brook at the rest area on Route 2, just north of Dixfield.

Melanie Johnson, a Dirigo science teacher and sponsor of the ecology club, said Sonja Fuller of the Department of Transportation in Dixfield contacted her about having the club volunteer for a community project.

Jason Blais, an AmeriCorps and Maine Conservation Corps volunteer, has been organizing such community projects for the past year. He said Maine DOT provided the six yards of 8-inch angular riprap for the job, and Over the Bridge Market in Dixfield and the local Hannaford Supermarket provided food and beverages while the students worked.

Some of the five students wore waders and were able to work on the dam or wall for the bank from the water. The other students found suitable rocks to make safe steps in the eroded area. The steps will enable visitors frequenting the rest area to go down to the stream bank. The steps will also curb the erosion problem, which is washing sand and gravel into the water.

Johnson said this was the first project for the club this year, and hopes to have another community service project the week of Nov. 8, which is recycling week. Students will collect homeowners’ metal cans, glass jars, stacks of paper and other recyclables in Canton, Dixfield and Peru.