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Post by dgaddis1 on Jan 9, 2010 18:09:57 GMT -5
The canal trail needs some work. One spot has a seasonal spring and is holding water like crazy. In another spot erosion has dug a giant hole for someone to fall into. The hole is priority #1 IMO because it is a safety issue. The canal trail sees a lot of different users (kids, newbies, runners, dogs, etc) and it's just a matter of time before someone falls into this thing. I have no idea how to fix it...or if it even is fixable. Here it is, my bike is there to give a sense of scale. The natural line to follow riding CCW will put your front tire right into that piece of rock...then you're going in the hole. The armored section has actually held up pretty well, it's only in the hole because it lost support and fell in. On the high side, the trail is funneling water into the hole. It's like a little gulley. The soil is very sandy in this area. Again, for a sense of scale: Next problem... This is the area that is holding water, thanks to a seasonal spring. There was actually water flowing around that railroad tie on the far right. Would burying a coregated pipe or two help give the water somewhere to go besides the trail? Imagine my surprise when I crossed the railroad ties and rode into what appeared to be a puddle, then I heard a weird crunching sound.... Yep. Ice. Did I mention it was a little chilly this morning? I don't know why someone put a piece of plywood on top of this little bridge. It's just going to get super slippery. I tried to remove it, but it's nailed down. I'll be taking a hammer with me on the Weds night canal ride this week. Shamless Jabberwocky Pic: Alright. Let's hear some ideas. How can we fix this?
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Post by Ross D on Jan 9, 2010 21:38:12 GMT -5
I say on pics 6 and 7, put in french drain pipe and gravel over it.. Then on the other pics.. Gravel that area heavily.. I've got an old wheel barrow, that I can donate to the cause and three people can get it done pretty quickly..
The first sections.. I say put up a big caution sign! That would hurt big time!!!
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Post by seenvic on Jan 9, 2010 23:48:11 GMT -5
The muddy spot is just the lowest spot around. It is going to be hard to get water to go anywhere but the lowest spot. Somehow you have to elevate the trail. I think I know that spot. Bricks there now. It dries up most of the year, but is wet when it's wet. Hate to put something in there for a few months of the year. But those few months suck being all muddy. How accessible are a bunch of RR ties? Set two RR ties a foot or so apart. Fill in the space between the RR ties with dirt/rock/fill and pack it tight. Repeat the length of the muddy area. You have the width of the 2 RR ties and the middle foot or so to ride. And it would be high and dry year round. But it would be a bear to build especially by hand. Not sure where you'd get the fill. But if you had 20 people, organized with the right tools, it could be done in a day. If the dirt could be dug from borrow pits nearby, and there was some rock/brick to take up space, be solid and drain, it would be easier. A small crew moving RR ties, a small crew digging and a small crew packing it tight. A crew moving materials in. It would be hard work, but not impossible. The other spot looks like it was armored. Then riders went around the armoring. The water followed this new line and over time created this canyon. I haven't been down there in a long time, but it looks like a good idea may be some sort of safety fencing. That thing is deep. Imagine how small a 26" bike would look in that cravace (sp?) Edit to add: If you do gravel it, put something under the gravel or that muck will suck it up and it will be gone in a year or so. It looks like it has sucked up the brick we put there many years ago. I have some black mesh that will work well there. No matter what you put there, I'd put this mesh under it to keep it being sucked into that muck. I can't believe you haven't realized this could be the elevated skinny you've been looking for.
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Post by dgaddis1 on Jan 10, 2010 7:35:39 GMT -5
I can't believe you haven't realized this could be the elevated skinny you've been looking for. That was the first thing we (me and Drew) thought of actually.
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Post by dgaddis1 on Jan 11, 2010 7:47:15 GMT -5
How hard is it to move rail road ties? compared to say, a telephone pole (like the ones used for stringers for bridges)? Could those log carries be used?
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Post by seenvic on Jan 11, 2010 11:37:42 GMT -5
Much easier than moving a telephone pole.
Yes, the log carriers would be a good idea.
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Post by seenvic on Jan 12, 2010 8:50:55 GMT -5
On the canyon problem.
Is there a way to move the whole trail? I am thinking there is another badly eroded spot coming out of the woods to get to this canyon. Instead of going up one badly eroded section to go down two more badly eroded sections, can we just move the trail and make it so that it stays in the woods longer on that sidehill that we are now going up and down.
I need to get over there and look at it. I am going on memory of what I saw during the two time trails I did.
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Post by dgaddis1 on Jan 12, 2010 9:03:28 GMT -5
On the canyon problem. Is there a way to move the whole trail? I am thinking there is another badly eroded spot coming out of the woods to get to this canyon. Instead of going up one badly eroded section to go down two more badly eroded sections, can we just move the trail and make it so that it stays in the woods longer on that sidehill that we are now going up and down. I need to get over there and look at it. I am going on memory of what I saw during the two time trails I did. That's probably the best solution, and would require less work than fixing this thing.
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Post by ted on Jan 12, 2010 9:18:45 GMT -5
Mooooovin it WOULD be easier unless you want to build a launch and landing ramp?
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Post by seenvic on Jan 12, 2010 9:19:08 GMT -5
Fix the canyon? Crazy talk. Avoid it yes. Fix it? Maybe with a cement truck.
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Post by bontrager83 on Jan 13, 2010 11:10:27 GMT -5
The water here seems to be an issue having never been out, I can't really say, but is there a way to get the water to sheet off the top before it reaches this bottle neck of erroision? if so filling in the pit with Rock, and re surfacing the existing trail next to it to establish sheeting of water would work, then you have a Rock garden and a ride around However, i am the new guy here, just a suggestion from what I can see. Let me know when you all plan to get at it and I will come help.
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Post by wala on Jan 13, 2010 18:51:00 GMT -5
If you look at the first 2 pictures, you can see that the trail is already routed around the gulley, and has been for some time. The gulley really isn't part of the trail, it's just next to it. It doesn't need to be fixed to the point of being rideable, just filled and blocked enough to keep people out of it.
I think it can be filled with some large rocks or logs and also something large placed at the top of it to keep unsuspecting riders from cutting the corner going downhill. Going uphill isn't an issue since you can see it clearly as you approach and you are crawling anyway.
Just my 2 cents after checking it out this weekend. Matt
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Post by dgaddis1 on Jan 14, 2010 7:24:05 GMT -5
If you look at the first 2 pictures, you can see that the trail is already routed around the gulley, and has been for some time. The gulley really isn't part of the trail, it's just next to it. It doesn't need to be fixed to the point of being rideable, just filled and blocked enough to keep people out of it. I think it can be filled with some large rocks or logs and also something large placed at the top of it to keep unsuspecting riders from cutting the corner going downhill. Going uphill isn't an issue since you can see it clearly as you approach and you are crawling anyway. Just my 2 cents after checking it out this weekend. Matt Where the gully is now is where the trail use to be. But then a rut formed, so people rode around it. Now that rut is a giant hole, and that hole will keep getting bigger, and eventually the current line will be gone too.
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Post by brianW on Jan 18, 2010 19:22:15 GMT -5
Rode the canal today, tied some orange tape from the tire to a branch. Could of used some more but I only had 15' of the stuff with me.
Re-route might be the best. It lloked like there are "old" gullies all ready on the "riverwatch" side. The other spot that is very wet seemed to have some armor in it.
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