This might be an odd question but I was wondering if anyone has suggestions for erosion control on logging roads? The soil is poor quality and I’d prefer not to lime and fertilize it to get something to hold what soil is in place and reduce mudiness to handle minimal truck and atv traffic.
#2 stone (if you have a tractor to move it with). I usually put it on my hills where erosion is the worst.
I agree with Spencer, #2’s. I suggest getting some fabric and putting that down first so the mud doesn’t pump through. Another thing I use is wood chips in wet spots. They only last a year or two, but they work short term and easily can be moved. If you are lucky, you can get these for free from the local town brush/tree reclamation area.
Bark. I’ve filled the deep muddy ruts that are on the trail leading into the forest with all the leftover bark. Did about 200 feet worth this year. It certainly won’t last long but it’s holding up well for now. I get a lot of 4x4 convoys traveling into the woods. So far so good. They only like wheelin when it’s been raining for days Stone would obviously be better but bark is free and I needed a place to dump it all anyway. If at all possible anytime you can build the road height higher than the surrounding ground you’ll be way ahead. Not possible for me as this mud road has been used for 100 years. Would cost a fortune.
We've had good luck with a mix of wood chips and sand. However we are blessed and don't have to deal much with hills; just a couple little ridges.
I agree, put diversions in so large amounts of water doesn't run straight down the road cutting ruts.
Out here I have seen them use crushed concrete. It packs down pretty good. Just make sure it comes from a good company that has a method for removing any steel that get crushed up in the process.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I do have access to a decent amount of shale but it’ll take a hundred or so of dump truck loads but doable over a period of time. I also save all the bark/chips from my atv cart and from the log splitter. I can add it as a temporary fix until I get some type of longer term solution
Crown and ditch the wettest areas with a box blade and cut a few diversion ditches off to the side? Then put shale in the low spots.
Here in Rainy WA St. we have several parks that have extensive walking and riding trails. The parks all use Tree Service Tree Chipper chips. They have a free dump area for the Tree Services. From there they ferry the chips to the trails in a 5 yd dump truck. The truck spread dumps and they finish grade with a skid steer with tracks. They spread Spring and Fall. Works pretty well even on slopes. You might have to ballast your worst mud holes and washes first but if bark works for you, I'm sure the chips would also and would last longer. Also, don't forget Geotech Fabrics. Some of the cheap ones still hold up well and can do wonders in muddy areas to provide a permeable base for filler materials!
First I'd say to get out when its raining hard or just after and identify where the water is flowing onto the road. Then make some diggings to ditch/crown/divert and drain that water. The sooner it is off the road the better. Sometimes by going above the you can divert water before it gets on the road or channel it all to one spot where you can show it the way across. If your road traverses a hillside, angle the outslope so water can run off and get rid of or poke drains in any birm on the downhill side to let the water run off. Then augument/patch the chronically wet spots, which are presumably now the low spots. And finally maintain your ditches so the water does not back up. This is a hiking/biking trail on a 100-200+ yr old logging and mining road. It was chronically muddy. A ditch on the high side and drains every so often across it have firmed it up. The granite slab happens to be readily available just above it so it gets used as a bridge at the ditch in our case. That slab still needs to get placed. We've also used pipes which would be better if you need a wider road.
