Need help with Corduroy road

[6sunset6]

http://www.amleo.com/landscape-and-turf/c/70000000/filter/100000002649eq100000002289/
Link for fabric comes all widths. You can cut a roll with a chain saw.
Unrolled it cuts better with scissors than a knife. I have built 1000 feet of 6ft path over water soaked ground for a 3000# tractor. Works great You only need 4" of fill to hold it in place.
I ran into a problem with wetland regs. Turns out you are not allowed to place fill in a wetland , not even 4" on geotextile. I am thinking about switching to wood chips, but I think that is fill as well.
Wet land maps are on line but I was also told the wetlands and buffer spaces are bigger than the maps show. It's a judgment call because ignorance is no excuse and the fines are very severe.

 

[josephny]

http://www.amleo.com/landscape-and-turf/c/70000000/filter/100000002649eq100000002289/
Link for fabric comes all widths. You can cut a roll with a chain saw.
Unrolled it cuts better with scissors than a knife. I have built 1000 feet of 6ft path over water soaked ground for a 3000# tractor. Works great You only need 4" of fill to hold it in place.
I ran into a problem with wetland regs. Turns out you are not allowed to place fill in a wetland , not even 4" on geotextile. I am thinking about switching to wood chips, but I think that is fill as well.
Wet land maps are on line but I was also told the wetlands and buffer spaces are bigger than the maps show. It's a judgment call because ignorance is no excuse and the fines are very severe.

That's a great source -- thanks!

Just to be clear, this is fabric (soft, water permeable) -- this is the stuff that, when covered with rock, will create a snow-shoe effect (i.e., prevent sinking), right?

Which is better for my application: Woven or non-woven?

 

[radioman]

been thinking about your issue. I think you need a member of TBN to stop in and take a look. Any advice is better then speculation.

In my mind, to keep cost down, I like the idea of carpet. Contact a local carpet store for names of installers to contact them for used carpet. they tend to be 12ft wide. this can be your base to throw drivable materials to cover on top of carpet. It depends on what you have around you. Do you have sand,gravel, or lots of brush to make chips with? Do you have a local sign company or glass company nearby? quite often they have crates you can take apart a little and use as driving mats. Or if you have a local sawmill, you can ask for thier scrap slabs of wood and use that for your road. put curve side side and flat side up. I built a cabin out of slabwood when I was in highschool for a club house and loved working with it. that was 20 years ago and I was able to get all you can load in a pickup for 20 bucks. I have no idea how much it would be now.
after all all you want is a drivable path with ATV right?

 

[josephny]

been thinking about your issue. I think you need a member of TBN to stop in and take a look. Any advice is better then speculation.

In my mind, to keep cost down, I like the idea of carpet. Contact a local carpet store for names of installers to contact them for used carpet. they tend to be 12ft wide. this can be your base to throw drivable materials to cover on top of carpet. It depends on what you have around you. Do you have sand,gravel, or lots of brush to make chips with? Do you have a local sign company or glass company nearby? quite often they have crates you can take apart a little and use as driving mats. Or if you have a local sawmill, you can ask for thier scrap slabs of wood and use that for your road. put curve side side and flat side up. I built a cabin out of slabwood when I was in highschool for a club house and loved working with it. that was 20 years ago and I was able to get all you can load in a pickup for 20 bucks. I have no idea how much it would be now.
after all all you want is a drivable path with ATV right?

Thank you so much for additional brainpower! While far, far from life or death, this is an important project for me.

I'd love a TBN member's help. Anyone in Eastern Sullivan County (15 minutes from Ellenville, 15 minutes from exit 112 off route 17)?

The fabric site has a role of 8' x 300' 2.8 oz non-woven fabric for about $200 delivered. That leaves purchasing the rock, moving it to the back woods, and laying down (and some clearing of fallen trees/rhodedendrum).

While I don't have gravel on my property, there's a small hill not far (100'-200') from the path site (on my property) that is dirt (mostly clay, small rocks) that can be used to cover the fabric -- if that will also create the snow-shoe effect (there's go to be a better name).

And, yes, all I really need is a 5' wide atv path -- and certainly doesn't need to be one that qualifies as smooth or perfectly dry.

 

[6sunset6]

I used the non woven 4 oz. there is shipping.
I am in Dutchess county. Not too far from you.
If you want to come look PM me. Might want to wait till the snow melts though.

 

[josephny]

Just an idea -- wonder what everyone thinks about this:

What about laying either wooden or plastic pallets right on top of the swamp?

I found dixiemat.com and saw the pictures of very long roads built out of their wooden matts on muddy ground.

Will this work?

 

[MikeD74T]

Wood pallets contain nails, nothing I'd make a road from unless burried well. In the early days of snowmobiling in NH pallets were used in trail wet spots, usually created a mess if not removed at the end of each season, which they never were. They tend to break into sharp spear like shards usually being made from thin hardwood. However if kept underwater they might well outlast you. MikeD74t

 

[dave1949]

Ditto on the nail problem.

Have you considered a raised wooden bridge? Lots of pieces but all hand/ATV transportable. If you could score some cheap posts/old utility poles, it could be worth looking into. One challenge would be to make it hold up to frost heaving, or build it in such a way that you could re-level it as needed I suppose.
Dave.

 

[josephny]

Wood pallets contain nails, nothing I'd make a road from unless burried well. In the early days of snowmobiling in NH pallets were used in trail wet spots, usually created a mess if not removed at the end of each season, which they never were. They tend to break into sharp spear like shards usually being made from thin hardwood. However if kept underwater they might well outlast you. MikeD74t

Makes perfect sense not to use the wood ones.

The plastic ones don't have the nail/spear problem, but they are permanent and not particularly nice to fill the woods with.

Does my math make sense for gravel:

400' x 5' x 0.5' = 1000 cu-ft = 37 cu-yds @ 1.25 tons/cu-yd = 46 tons of material.

Holy cow! I haven't priced material, but a quick glance and it's in the $20-$30/ton range -- that's $1000-$1,500 just for the stone.

Is my thinking right on this?

 

[josephny]

Ditto on the nail problem.

Have you considered a raised wooden bridge? Lots of pieces but all hand/ATV transportable. If you could score some cheap posts/old utility poles, it could be worth looking into. One challenge would be to make it hold up to frost heaving, or build it in such a way that you could re-level it as needed I suppose.
Dave.

I have no experience building such a thing, and the path is between 300-400 feet long. I assume the process would be to drive posts into the ground and build the bridge platform on top, pretty much lying on the ground. It sounds good (ATV transportable is a big plus), but probably too complicated for me.