After the trails have been planned, designed, and approved, Morton Trails will work with the client to ensure the highest quality, cost-efficient, and timely construction process.  For most projects, there are three distinct construction phases: 1. Timber cutting, 2. Excavation and surface preparation, and 3. Final preparations including inspection, signage, maintenance plan, and opening of the trail.

Cutting

Frequently, a client will undertake a trail project in conjunction with other logging or clearing activities on a property and may already have a logging/cutting operator contracted.  Other times, the trail is the single project.  Morton Trails can work with clients to identify and help solicit bids for the cutting, including operators we have worked with on other projects.

Regardless of who will be cutting the trail, it is almost always beneficial for Morton Trails to meet and talk with the workers. Since designed trails are typically more convoluted than forest roads or skid trails, it is essential that the trail workers have an accurate map and a clear understanding of the layout of the route. One of the important considerations during the cutting phase is how to remove the harvested timber and brush from the trail corridor without damaging the trees that will remain alongside the trail. If the trail is to be cut using heavy equipment (for example, a feller buncher and skidder), “bumper trees” should be left during the operation to protect the eventual border trees once cutting and excavation is complete. During the design of a trail network, we often note locations which might serve as cutoffs or efficient short cuts for the removal of timber during the cutting phase.

Although the quantity and quality of  wood  harvested while cutting a trail varies dramatically, it usually falls into four general categories: saw logs, firewood, branches and brush, and rotten or junk wood. The saw logs are gathered in a central location and trucked to a saw mill. Trees, tops, and branches big enough to provide fire wood can also be skidded to a central location or bucked up into manageable size and stacked off the trail route to be gathered after the trail has been excavated. Brush, branches and saplings can be chipped in place as the cutting proceeds, or stacked neatly off the trail to be chipped after the excavation and under certain conditions, be used to provide a trail surface. Rotten logs unsuitable for firewood or too big to go through a chipper should be removed from the trail route and permitted to decompose, restoring nutrients to the forest floor.

Excavation and Surface Preparation

Once the trail corridor is cleared of trees, saplings and brush, it is time for the excavator to remove the stumps and boulders, install culverts, bank descending turns, and install any bridges, if necessary. Most excavator operators are highly skilled but may not have extensive experience building trails.  Again, Morton Trails has worked with excavating companies in many locations and can recommend operators familiar with trail construction. Usually, a brief conversation with an equipment operator as the beginning of the job, with a follow-up visit several hours later, ensures that he or she understands the general concepts of trail construction. Some contractors find it efficient to rough a trail out with an excavator and do the finish grading with a small bulldozer, while others do the entire job with an excavator, leaving a smooth trail surface ready for seeding or, sometimes, wood chips.

The budget and purpose of the trail project will often dictate the extent of excavation and choice of route and surface materials.  For many projects, material found locally onsite will be sufficient, with occasional need for bringing in offsite material.  Other projects may require a more extensive consideration of finding the appropriate material – if the trail will be used for mountain biking or horse riding during the summer, then it is important to use materials and excavation techniques that will provide a sustainable surface.  On the other hand, a trail that will only be used for winter activities may require less intensive excavation and surface preparation.

Final Preparations

Throughout the construction of the project, Morton Trails can be available for periodic inspections and consultation.  Once the construction is complete, we will make a final inspection, work with clients to develop appropriate signage, and assist in the preparation of trail maps, either through our own expertise or with a mapping, graphics, planning, or engineering firm already employed by the client.  Morton Trails has internal GIS and cartographic expertise as well as relationships with specialty organizations, depending on the needs of the project.

We also provide clients with maintenance guidelines for the trail, including recommendations on grooming and other equipment and schedules for regular and periodic upkeep.