Project 01 · The Cut Trailhead
The Cut Trailhead Shoreline Monitoring & Cleanup Initiative
A rocky stretch of Lake Lewisville shoreline near Little Elm, Texas, that collects litter faster than occasional goodwill can clear it. This project turns that problem into a measured system: fixed monitoring stations, quality-controlled citizen photography, and cleanups whose results are documented like the data they are.
Lake Lewisville · Little Elm, Texas · location shown at neighborhood precision by policy
Two instruments, two jobs
Station A measures the shoreline. Station B will measure the mess. One viewpoint cannot do both well, so the design splits them.
CUT-A
Station A: Shoreline Overview
Installed 2026-09-04 — calibration underway
An elevated, wide-view record of shoreline position, visible beach width, and seasonal change.
Reads the big picture: shoreline position, visible beach width, seasonal change, and the aftermath of storms and cleanups — never small-litter counts at distance.
CUT-B
Station B: Litter Detail
Planned — second instrument, not yet built
A close-range record of a defined 10–20-foot litter measurement zone.
Activates only after its controlled zone is documented and the litter-counting methodology is written and field-tested — measured claims, or none.
Engineering the instrument
Station A's record is only as good as its repeatability. The cradle exists so that every phone takes the same photograph — a fixed position, an aim repeatable to within a known tolerance, geometry instead of steady hands.
Rev 01
A CAD-only design study — never printed. Shown in a neutral study material to keep that distinction honest.
Designed around one specific fence, with a custom attachment that hooked around the rail. It was measured to fit exactly and designed for stability, but it would only ever fit that one fence.
Rev 02
Printed in black filament.
A faster, simpler prototype. In place of the custom hook, the base pairs with zip ties, so it prints quickly and installs easily on most fences.
Rev 03
Printed in black filament — the current revision, installed at Station A on 2026-09-04.
On Rev 02 the phone would not stay in place, so Rev 03 tilts forward and widens the shelf the phone rests on. The zip-tie base carried over unchanged because it worked. The stand also grew larger so instructions and a QR code can go on its face.
What is true so far
- VerifiedStation A instrument designed and built — an original landscape-orientation phone cradle with fixed geometry.
- VerifiedStation A installation approved at the site's fence line, viewing the shoreline from elevation.
- VerifiedStation A installed at the site's fence line · 2026-09-04
- NextCalibration with real phones and the first public observation — each will appear here with its date when it actually happens.
Cleanup history and measured results will be published here once event records are verified.
The Cut Observatory
Every approved observation, its environmental context, and the honest state of the record — in one place.