BYOT - Build your own trail

[GPSGuided]

Came across this article and thought there'd be interest. Can't see myself doing such for anything more than a garden path.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Buildin ... /?ALLSTEPS

[icefest]

If you get the chance to go to the Grampians you will be astounded by the effort they are putting into rebuilding trails.

They have incredible drystone walls and tessellating stone paths.

[GPSGuided]

Incredibly hard work.

[north-north-west]

If you get the chance to go to the Grampians you will be astounded by the effort they are putting into rebuilding trails.

They have incredible drystone walls and tessellating stone paths.

Which is why they have no funds for trackwork anywhere else in the state.

[GPSGuided]

Anyone know the average cost to develop a km of bush track out there? Knowing the huge variety of terrains, I am just wondering if there's a guidance figure for it? How does the NP staff budget these?

[icefest]

I'm not sure on cost, but there is an Australian standard that determines the quality and grades.
AS2156.1

[GPSGuided]

I'm not sure on cost, but there is an Australian standard that determines the quality and grades.
AS2156.1

Cost always goes up when there's a "standard" specification.

[Lindsay]

I can understand repairing and maintaining existing tracks, but is it really a good idea for private individuals to start building their own tracks, as the link seems to be advocating? In any case, many tracks seem to happen naturally over time without a great deal of deliberate improvement.

[Grabeach]

A few comments from one who has spent a fare bit of time working on Blue Mountains tourist tracks.

The link shows a track being constructed in easy terrain. Can’t recall too many on flat ground. Cut and fill, with occasional rock build up of the outer edge was the order of the day.

Most recreational walking areas I’ve been in have existing tracks in need of maintenance. Far more useful and efficient to repair these than build new tracks from scratch. Only exception are some tracks that are so badly eroded that they’re virtually impossible to fix. At this point I think my time would be better spent elsewhere. New track construction skills are however needed when sections of track have disappeared in landslides. Other than landslides, the biggest destroyers of tracks are water, soil migration down the slope and people walking on the outer edge of the track. Hence clearing drainage channels, rearranging soil and trimming vegetation overhanging the track on an on-going basis are critical. The authorities however seem to prefer massive and expensive track ‘repairs’ at a later date or simply placing signs warning of danger.

Tracks that “happen naturally’ are usually a mess. For instance, they will dip down and up the side of a slope because that’s easier than ploughing through blackberries on the more logical line.

Tools. I go along with the chosen tools but would add in a McLeod for shifting loose soil and clearing ground vegetation, occasionally a chain saw (ever tried cutting through a half metre diameter log with a hand saw?) and a sledge hammer and pinch bar for the really heavy rock work. Generally a track would require multiple days, so it was preferable to carry one tool at a time.

Cost. I did see some per metre figures many years ago. Can’t remember the actual amounts, but there must have been more than one way of calculating them, because the Lands Dept cost was a fraction of those of the National Parks.

And remember you won’t be able to please everybody. When walking with the kids in a Sydney reserve, I came across a dangerous eroded section of ‘track’ that ran straight down the hill. Looked wrong to me, so I foraged around and found the original set of stone steps. I uncovered these and tidied up the rest of the track. I was really proud of what I had done. Next time there, I noticed the council had put up an ugly 1.5 x 1m sign condemning those who had vandalised the bush!

[GPSGuided]

Interesting perspective Grabeach! Thanks. On the cost side, are we talking about over $100/m or what? Any rough figure off the top of your head?

[tastrax]

Here are some recent (part) costs for trackwork on the new Three Capes Track

https://www.tenders.tas.gov.au/Contract ... tails/4254

https://www.tenders.tas.gov.au/Contract ... tails/4002

[GPSGuided]

Thanks Tastrax. That gave me a good sense of scale. Makes one appreciate the value of those trails more. $3M for 14km of track, $211/m.

[Grabeach]

Have to go with Tastrax's figures as they are actual payments to an external tenderer for specified work. The figures I saw back in the 90s (I honestly can't remember the amounts) were figures used by the two government departments covering who knows what. All I know for sure is that I used to do it for $211/m less than the latest winning tenders.

[tastrax]

If you would like to have a play with some calculations, I have a spreadsheet that I used years ago to do rough calculations for track projects.

You can select a track technique and then add things such as transport costs (including helicopters and boats) and also change timber sizes for duckboard etc.

NOTE - this is an old spreadsheet and timber costs etc would need to be updated! I cant load it here as XLS files are not allowed. Send me a PM if you want to check it out.

[GPSGuided]

Thanks for the offer Tastrax. You've already provided good info to satisfy my curiosity with a conclusion of "not cheap". Talking of helicopters etc, I can see how it can cost as much as they have it in the tender. Good to have a perspective on the value of those tracks we love.

[FatCanyoner]

Anyone know the average cost to develop a km of bush track out there? Knowing the huge variety of terrains, I am just wondering if there's a guidance figure for it? How does the NP staff budget these?

The figure I heard for the fancy track upgrades in the Blue Mountains (National Pass and Grand Canyon) was in the vicinity of $2000 per metre! Those tracks have been done to an extremely high standard. They are constructed out of stone that is helicoptered in, then cut on site by stonemasons. It looks amazing, but personally I'd rather money be spent in more areas instead.

[GPSGuided]

Looks like we can say that we are engaged in some expensive recreational activities but with minimal personal outlay in comparison. I guess I can understand why the significant expenditure to those areas, given they are amongst the most public and high profile of all Blue Mountains bush tracks.

[icefest]

Looks like we can say that we are engaged in some expensive recreational activities but with minimal personal outlay in comparison. I guess I can understand why the significant expenditure to those areas, given they are amongst the most public and high profile of all Blue Mountains bush tracks.

I'd imagine Grade 5 tracks are much, much cheaper:

[clarence]

The figure of $200/lineal metre is in the ball park. I used to work for NPWS doing track building 15 years ago. For high use, high quality tracks in premier parks, the cost at the time was around $200/Lm.

On a major track rebuild of a more generic 600mm wide "track" (say grade 2-3 from AS 2165) the cost would have been around $20-$30/Lm. Both these relate to late 1990s costs.

There are major costs associated with planning, signs and materials, which have to be factored in to the track building in addition to labour.

Another very significant issue is construction of tracks in steep and rocky areas with very poor access (eg under-cliff tracks in Blue Mountains for example). I would suggest that remote area track construction would at least double per lineal metre due to the need to fly in materials, tools and fuel for generators/chainsaws, especially if specialised materials are required. A typical residential deck would cost somewhere in the vicintiy of $500/square metre. Remember a walking track with a boardwalk would be 1200mm wide, equating to $600 per Lm based on this cost of $500/sqm. Put a boardwalk track in a remote area and $1200/Lm is very plausible for the sections that require this type of construction.

A typical NPWS worker works 7 hours per day. By the time they get to the depot, travel to site, walk to the work site (say 1hr each way for walk plus drive), unpack and pack up tools (usually hidden under a tarp in the nearby bush), carry in a few materials, they will probably acheive 4.5 hours of productive track work on the tools every day- making about 23 hours of productive work per week, all things going well.

Many rangers (who specify how tracks are made) like to make their own little mark on these jobs, and hence tend towards overengineering (IMO) and hence unnecessary increased costs. This includes stone steps, unistrut walkways and stairways, imported fill and boardwalks. They want to leave their impression by making some whiz-bang track that is more fancy than that in the adjacent national park or local council lookout. Overspecification of this type of detail again could easily double the cost of construction of a more generic natural trail, but also add substantially to recurrent maintenance costs. The boardwalk at Minnamurra Rainforest is one such example, where the recurrent funding of replacing kilometres of hardwood walkway treads would be outrageous. The rangers who specify such trails often have little of no construction experience, and are specifying and managing jobs they don't know enough about. This is another reason public money is wasted.

Once I left the NPWS I advised a group of mountain bike riders who wanted to construct some trails. In the same time the NPWS had thrown about $100,000 at maintenance of 5km of walking track, this group of less than 5 active "workers" had built about 3.5km of new mountainbike trail, after work, on weekends, with no funding or materials and did a very high quality job in very similar terrain. Incidentally, the privately built mountainbike trail has stood up just as well as the NPWS built track even after 10 years of use (apart from where the downhill MTB riders got onto it).

Needless to say it was this type of stupidity and mismanagement of public funds at the NPWS that was the main reason for my departure.

For those who are interested in walking track construction the NSW NPWS has an excellent publication on the topic "Walking track Construction Guidelines" by Stephen Gorrell.

Clarence