Monday 24 November 2014

Footpath Improvement

The maintenance volunteers have recently been carrying out some footpath improvement work in Crow wood and a sterling job they have done too! The area concerned was turning into a bit of a mud bath due to the amount of rain we have been experiencing and required a few tractor bucket loads of stone and the same again of crushed limestone. It also required installing some revetment to keep the stone in place and prevent further erosion. 

Surface water runs down the slope on the far side of the wall, across the path 
and into the stream below. Persistent heavy rainfall over the last few weeks 
had turned this area of the path into a wallow fit for a hippo.  

A nearby plantation requiring some thinning provided timber for the revetment. 
The stone has raised the hollow to the level of the rest of the footpath 
and will allow water to drain through the path towards the stream 
without water logging the surface.
The natural curvature of the wood almost perfectly matches the bend of the path,
which was of course intentional when the trees were selected.  
Finally crushed limestone is spread on top and compressed to provide
 a solid and level surface to walk on.

A number of footpaths in the park are in need of a bit of tlc and with the help of volunteers we will be continuing with more improvement works over the coming weeks and months.