Purpose:
The Mullinax Trail Restoration project aimed to restore a section of trail with poor water drainage leading to large ditches where water flowed down the trail instead of off of it. There was .9 miles of extremely damaged trail tread and waist-high entrenched ditches; this made it difficult for users such as horseback riders and mountain bikers to comfortably and safely navigate and enjoy this section of trail.
Repair:
To repair the damaged sections of trail, The Pisgah Conservancy fell locust trees from the forest and installed logs from these trees on both ends of the trail ditch to support the stone and fill dirt placed in the middle. The middle was then filled with rocks which were harvested from the existing trail corridor and placed into the ditch until they neared the top of the intended tread. To complete the repair, an excavator was used to replace and pack down soil over top of the rocks. The section of trail that was once a ditch has now been transformed into a durable section of trail that looks as if it was never damaged.
Prevention and Trail Sustainability:
To prevent this trail damage from occurring again, The Pisgah Conservancy and Shrimper Khare, a local trail builder dubbed The Pisgah Pathologist, used excavators to build 76 rolling grade dips along the 1.4 mile trail. Rolling grade dips are a type of drainage structure which provide the path of least resistance for water to flow off of the trail instead of allowing it to continue to flow over the trail. A drain is built which slopes downward and off of the trail, and a large hump of soil is compacted perpendicular to the trail down trail of the drain, preventing water from flowing over it. An additional 31 drainage structures were installed by The Pisgah Conservancy by hand in sections of the trail where it would be difficult to use an excavator. To top off the trail restoration work, the entire 1.4 mile trail corridor was heavily brushed of limbs, branches, and debris.
Outcomes:
- 31 Hand Dug Drains
- 76 Drains dug by excavator
- 1.4 miles of trail brushing
- .9 miles of seriously damaged trail restored
