Tips on maintaining wooden water bars?

[cooperhill]

I just started work on my adopted trail on Mt. Chocorua and have a number of wooden water drainage structures. I've mostly done cleaning of rock water bars where I can take the excavated sediment and mound it over the structure creating a kind of berm. With squared wooden railroad ties that is not so easy. Does anyone have experience with maintaining these structures? Any advice? Can I pack some dirt on the frontside of the structure (as you are looking at it from uphill) or do I put it all in back of the structure.

Thanks.

 

[David Metsky]

Any dirt on the downhill side will either wash away or clog the waterbar. Try to keep the front as clear as possible, just pile dirt on the backside covering the uphill edge of the tie.

 

[wardsgirl]

Thanks for your work maintaining a trail!

A hazel hoe is the best tool for maintaining a wooden waterbar. Stand on the downhill side of the trail, facing uphill. Swing that hoe so that the head lands about 18" uphill from the wood. Then, drag the debris up and over the bar, depositing the duff on the downhill side of the waterbar. Continue in this manner, taking swings and pulling, until you have traveled the length of the bar. When you have completed this part, stomp down on the debris to build up the berm on the downhill edge of the bar, further compacting the soil and strengthening the stabilization. Make sure both pin rocks are in place. Where the bar ends and the outflow into the woods begins, stand with your butt in the woods and use your hoe to pull the debris from the outflow further into the woods. Keep backing up until your ditch is nice and wide and angled downhill so that the water will drain appropriately. Have fun!

 

[Fisher Cat]

Also watch the angle of the slope that leads downhill into your waterbar. Too sharp an angle will cause any flow to gain speed, and therefore it could carry a lot more momentum, and possibly erode under the bar.

 

[TCD]

And wear your eye protection. When swinging the hoe, or otherwise chopping at dirt, the dirt tends to fly up. That can be a pain, out in the woods, with contact lenses...

 

[arm]

some folks say that thinking about baseball helps them maintain wood ...

 

[psmart]

You generally can't pile the material in the ditch against the bar. As Dave says, it will wash away.

However, if the trail grade is low enough, you may be able to run the water in a dip just uphill of the bar, rather than against the wood itself. In this configuration, the wood serves to hold the earth in place against hiker traffic, rather than directly forming the channel.

When it can be done, these structures are less prone to water undermining the wood, and are less prone to rot. And when the wood does eventually rot away, the dip will sometimes remain. It all depends on the grade of the trail.

As mentioned above, the most overlooked task is cleaning the outflow ditch. In most cases you'll need to clear well into the woods. And then you should have a close look at the terrain to be sure the water will stay off the trail.

 

[TrailwrightBratt]

Cleaning Bars

All waterbars should be cleaned the same way, Debris such as leaves,needles sticks etc. should be removed to the outlet and away downhill leaving the outlet in the shape of a fan getting wider the further down. Good soil should be pulled up over the waterbar and placed on the downhill side [Berm] to build up the waterbar so that even when the waterbar rotts the soil will still be an earthen bar. It is O.K. to even leave the soil on top of the wood.
Do not remove soil more than half way of the diameter of the wood or rock or fast moving water will undercut the bar.It is O.K. to pack soil in front [uphill] of the wood but there is no need to as the wood or rock is what directs the water along the bar, that is why you shingle rocks to keep the water moving along.
Out west they sometimes pack soil about a foot in front of the bar in case of higher volume on occasion.
Just remember on earth waterbars make them DEEPER and WIDER each time.
I hope this helps.
In addition,for safety rake all small rocks down and over the side that may have been in the bar, you know what a ball bearing will do when you step on one!!!