Need help with Corduroy road

[josephny]

Get geo fabric, roll out, put gravel on top. How thick the gravel needs to be is based on the load.

Having an ATV with 4wd, and oversized tires, I'm surprised it can't go through? Mine can drive over stuff I can't walk through, especially if there is a vegatation mat.

We have some corduroy roads here through swamps. They plain suck when they get old. Traffic will work gravel down through. Once the logs are bursting out, you get stuck in mud holes full of logs.

The ground is well over 2 feet of peat -- soft, spongy stuff at best, sink deep into it mud at worst. With years of decaying rhodedendrum mixed in. Will geo fabric and gravel really be appropriate?

I've been riding ATVs for 30 years, in all kinds of terrain. This multi-feet deep stuff is just not possible -- there's no tranaction and the tires sink right into it such that the chassis sits on the ground.

 

[josephny]

I think you are on the right idea with the length-wise logs. That's how loggers here bridge over wet spots for their skidders if they are working a wet area outside of winter time - which is frowned upon.

They don't have to be big diameter, less than 6" will do, and if they go down in the wet mud, will take a long, long time to rot. If you have beech bark disease in your woods, I would use the young beech. It shouldn't take much to keep an ATV out of the ground. You might get by with only length wise saplings and not need the cross pieces. Definitely easier to use long saplings than short cross pieces.

I think the gravel will disappear without geotextile and a base of large (> 8") rocks below it. It would be a very slow process too and has the smell of a shovel about it :laughing:.

Dave.

So how many logs the direction of the path -- one on each side, one on each side and one in the middle, or many next to each?

I might be doing this without machinery (I don't own anything, other than a chain saw).

possible?

 

[josephny]

BTW, it's particularly hard to get any sort of fill, because this is a path made through an extremely thick wall of rhodedendrum so there's no dirt or rocks to take from the nearby (even if I had a machine to do that work) and it's way back from where a dump truck can dump anything.

 

[studor]

If you could, large rock for fill would be the way to go. The geotextile would be expensive and still require rock or gravel.
If you make the corduroy road it will work -- when it starts to sink, you just put more logs on top -- it will last a long time and really does not need much to hold it together. In some places around here the original corduroy road still exists under the gravel and pulverized road that has been created since. Now is a good time to do it -- no bugs, logs can be moved easier and solid place to stand. I made a number of corduroy crossings on my place about five years ago after bellying out the ATV a few too many times. :thumbsup:
I used cedar, cut long side pieces, then laid and spiked logs on either end and just filled in the "frames" with loose logs. Once in place I drove the atv across them a few times in the spring to push them down then drove the tractor across to make sure they were "seated" in the mud.

 

[inveresk]

See attached.

Mud Mats | Nilex

 

[dave1949]

So how many logs the direction of the path -- one on each side, one on each side and one in the middle, or many next to each?

I might be doing this without machinery (I don't own anything, other than a chain saw).

possible?

Logs side by side for the desired width, unless the path is extremely straight, then you might be able to make two parallel sections and let your ATV straddle the middle. I would alternate butts and tops so they fit to fill the space. Mixed lengths would be better than uniform lengths.

Or, there is this Howe & Howe Technologies :laughing:
Forget about making a trail.
Dave.

 

[Brandon1107]

Geo grid does work extremely well, I have used in several situations at an area I have on the beach as well as oilfield access roads. It is not cheap but I calculate cost to man hours even on my own individual projects and it comes out way ahead. If you can find lots of free labor you may be better off with the cord. road but that does not seem to be the case. Green cement that is recycled for road base works excellent in these situations, talk to the local ready-mix companies and see if it is available. These two in conjunction will make a nearly indestructible road but it might run you overbudget. If the dump trucks can't get any closer you might want to consider improving your road to this location, or renting a large articulated FEL to shuttle material. Ok I'm done spending your money. Good luck, and embrace the challenge!

 

[dawoodwa]

We have put geo fabric down with a layer of surge stone then crusher run rock on top thru a creek bottom which closely resembled a swamp. The road held up log trucks. Still use it today for farm equipment.

 

[Shazbat]

The fellow that owns/built Glacier Gardens in Juneau AK built a vast amount of corduroy roads going up a steep and wet mountainside, he seemed awfully willing to talk about the whole process when we were there, it might not hurt to contact them.

Their website has the phone #'s.

 

[josephny]

So much great info, I'm even more confused

I have to hire all the work out -- whether that's labor or machine rental/operation, so it's a straightforward financial analysis.

I've been googling geofabric, geotextile and geogrid.

It looks like the geofabric won't work because the ground is very rough and instructions are to make it smooth before using and then cover with layers of stone.

I can't find info on how geogrids work. Can they simply be put down on top of rough, wet, peat/mud without sinking and without covering with rock? If so, it would mean finding a source for the stuff, and then getting a guy with a machine to shuttle the stuff back into the woods and lay it in place.

Is this making sense?