Advice on building trail structures?

hahah yeah whats up with that? Did Digger actually haul a sack of concrete up there? And I thought hauling tools up was a pain.

hahah yeah whats up with that? Did Digger actually haul a sack of concrete up there? And I thought hauling tools up was a pain.

As far as I know yes Digger did haul in the concrete to build that little bridge.

How to: Dirt topped "steps" ;) dub

This spot on Pangor has a water spring popping up on the high side of the trail, which then ran down the trail for 100 feet or so, effectively trashing the trail to rubble. This work was done in one day, thanks to a bunch of TAP volunteers and NSMB'ers!

First step was to get the water off the trail. A cross ditch and side ditch to a pond was dug. The pond acts as a reservoir, giving the water time to seep into the ground.

Lay down stringers (split cedar 6"X6" or so) and nail down slats (make em thick, Synchro style)

Then lay down landscaping cloth (this step is debatable - builder's choice is my motto) and stringers on top of that on the edges.

Sift it and tamp it good! (again, builder's choice)

Sift some more (this takes a lot of time) and tamp it.

Finished product. It still looks like this, 18 months after it was built. It's also a heavy braking zone with a down ramp and a drop landing here.

I'm very proud of the work the group did! Great job guys! Special thanks to Chris and Biggles for leading the project!

Sift it and tamp it good! (again, builder's choice)

Sifting makes a big difference. It allows the dirt to pack tighter and doesn't give the tyres anything to grab and yank out creating a hole.
It's a fair bit more work, but I think it pays off. Chris and I did a dirt top on another project that has set like concrete.
Also, holy shit I looked weird when I was bald.

Builders choice re landscape fabric .
I think it boils down to if your building besides a stream or spring ,the landscape fabric will impede siltation. I have used it when terrain or housing have forced the trail to be near a stream.
That work looks stellar,nice pixs.
g
Kinda like go juice for builders eh?

Thank you for all the responses to my dirt-top question.

Also, holy shit I looked weird when I was bald.

as opposed to your normal look? :lol:

Question about the two methods of dirt topping:

It's pretty obvious how the slats hold the dirt in place when you go that route, but when just going with stringers (as mentioned by Wernie), you'd pretty much have to have landscaping cloth to keep the gold in wouldn't you? Or are the stringers just packed right together? I used to do a fair bit of construction and deck work and the worst thing you could do was pack the wood together tightly enough for water to get trapped and limit air circulation: that would lead to rot and would substantially reduce the life of your structure.

Question about the two methods of dirt topping:

It's pretty obvious how the slats hold the dirt in place when you go that route, but when just going with stringers (as mentioned by Wernie), you'd pretty much have to have landscaping cloth to keep the gold in wouldn't you? Or are the stringers just packed right together? I used to do a fair bit of construction and deck work and the worst thing you could do was pack the wood together tightly enough for water to get trapped and limit air circulation: that would lead to rot and would substantially reduce the life of your structure.

When Chris and I did it (with help from Heckler) we left an inch or two between the stringers to allow drainage, but put round rocks on the bottom to support the landscaping media like this:

Real life pics

The dirt screen is collapsible making it easy to carry. I used PVC pipe and didn't glue the elbows so just knock the ends off and roll it all up together. The hardware cloth screen is wrapped and zip tied to the sides. I added short pieces of screen to the ends to try and keep dirt from falling out, it works well enough for the trade off of being collapsible.