A road over swamp?

[lesleyjeanie]

We are building two roads to connect 3 islands. One road is 100 rods (1200 ft) and the other road is 140 rods (1700 ft). We are doing the first road corduroy style and might run out of funds/materials for the second road so I am exploring different options.

 

[Soundguy]

depending on the logs used.. it could hold up for a while.. again.. depending on water level and wood type.

if you could stabilize the fill between under and above the logs with a binder like a lil portland it would go a long way.

i've seen many logging roads made for logs and clay..

 

[yaouk]

I am looking to build the same type of road over a jungle swamp. How did you bolt the tires together? And how is the road holding up now? Any other ideas?

I drilled holes through the tread and bolted with 6mm (1/4) bolts and washers. The dont need to be galvanised bolts cause the point of bolting is just to hold as formwork while the tyres are being filled. I would advise using larger tyres (say 15 inch plus) and putting in a base layer of 100mm (4 inch) rocks and 20mm over the top. Some tyres will pop up as vehicles go over and i just pull them out and fill in the hole with more gravel. As vehciles go over the tyres slowly get pushed down forming a more solid foundation for more gravel when needed. This system should be good for up to 10 tonne wheel loads. Although on one occassion when some gravel got into my brain I sent a couple of 20 tonne concrete trucks over. They didin't get stuck but did make some nice ruts.

I am please with how well its holding up after all these years. For maintenance every year i need to put in another layer of gravel and for any holes that open up I fill with larger aggregate first. Considering I have never found a solid base its been a good system. Logs would be great but my crossing is 70 metres wide (over 200 feet). Tying the logs together would have been tricky for me. I will try and post some pics to show people what it loks like now - 13 years on.

 

[lesleyjeanie]

Being a jungle swamp there are a lot of stumps and roots and the soil is mostly pagass. The only heavy machinery we have (and can get out here within our budget) is a tractor. Would it work to leave the stumps as a foundation below a corduroy road? With each laid pile we would cut a groove into the stump and it would act also to hold the pile in place. After the piles are laid we would throw sand. Thoughts?

 

[Soundguy]

i forsee a wavy road as the stumps will actlike piles and areas between the stumps will slump.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Around here after a buried stump rots and decays there are large holes or depressions left.

 

[Soundguy]

the time it takes that stump to rot is going to depend on what type it is. if a road is going over a fresh stump, andthat road gets immediate use.. there is going to be a hump at the stump as the rest of the road subsides.

later, if that stump rots, then you might have a void that opens up inside that hump that makes an even worse riding road.

just an non ideal situation to pave over a stump...

 

[aAaAWEWE]

i forsee a wavy road as the stumps will actlike piles and areas between the stumps will slump.

Yes. It probably will be 'wavy'. However it may not be practical to remove all the stumps. It may be easier to cope with the 'waves' and fillin around them. Roads always need maintenace over time.

 

[sdkubota]

There is a fabric called "Tensar" that looks like the plastic snow fences they used to sell that is specifically made for stabilizing poor soils. I have read numerous publications where it was rolled out over swamp you couldn't stand in, gravelled over the fabric, and you could drive a car on it. It uses the tensile strength of the material to support loads. Bad thing...it is expensive but go to any building supply store and they can give you a price.

Also...wood really doesn't rot when surrounded by saturated soils. They pull trees out of the river that have been underwater for 100 years and log them. Wood needs air to rot.

 

[Soundguy]

cypress won't rot under water. plain wood does a pretty good job.. that's why we only find sunk wood ships that are burried by mud...