This new page-in-the-works is for all Maine Appalachian Trail Club trail maintenance tips or instruction.

Waterbars

Water is a hiker's elixir of life. But, it's also a trail maintainer's worst enemy, hence, the need for waterbars. Properly installed waterbars will channel water off the trail, preventing footpath erosion and hours of labor trying to rebuild the path. However, waterbars require annual maintenance to keep erosion at bay.
Waterbars are rock or log barriers (preferably rock for longer life) that divert water off the footpath. The basic rule of placement is to channel the water off the trail as soon as it flows onto it.
It has been mentioned that some maintainers are not cleaning out waterbars each year on the trails they maintain, which is probably due to a lack of training. The MATC doesn't regularly conduct training workshops. So, here's a tip from Julian Wiggins of the Master of Forestry Program at the University of Maine at Orono. He has provided a dowloadable sketch and instructions entitled, "Tips for Annual Waterbar Maintenance," which shows how waterbars should be cleaned:

Tips for Annual Waterbar Maintenance
To view, this file requires Adobe Acrobat Reader software, which, if you don't already have it, can be downloaded here:

www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

More tips coming as I get them.

NOTE: To receive an MATC trail maintenance section, one must be a member of MATC, with trail maintenance skills. These can be learned by joining MATC or the Maine Trail Crew worktrips or attending MATC trail maintenance workshops.

Bog Bridging Workshop

July 22: Near north end of East Carry Pond
Kennebec District Overseer Phil Pepin, and Assistant Overseer, Peter Roderick, led a bog-bridging workshop near the north end of East Carry Pond.
New trail maintainer, A. Gordon Clarke, identified several areas along his trail assignment that needed new bridging due to the deterioration of current bridging and wet conditions causing unsightly widening of the footpath.
This one-day workshop employed different bridging techniques ranging from using simple hand tools to more non-traditional methods -- using chainsaws and a chainsaw mill.

WORKSHOP PHOTOS

To view larger images, try the thumbnail images.
	Laura Flight felling a tree.	Phil Pepin & Gordon Clark working the chainsaw mill.

Phil and the chainsaw mill.	The final product of their efforts.	Janice Gove stripping the bark.

Peter Roderick & Ray Ronan laying out the new bog bridging.	The crew making progress on the bridging.	Phil Pepin hauling the split logs to the site.
		Thanks, Phil and Robin, for the photos.
Craig Dickstein delivering a log.	What the crew accomplished in a day.

Updated May 7, 2007. Copyright © 2006-2007 MATC. Waterbar PDF file designed by Julian Wiggins.
Bog bridging workshop photos by Robin Pepin.
This website is designed and maintained by MATC Webmaster Terry Karkos.