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Trail Construction and Maintenance Notebook
Rock work ranges from shoveling cobble to blasting solid rock. Both ends of the spectrum are often specialty work. The good blaster can save a crew an astounding amount of work. Someone building a rock retaining wall may be a true artisan, creating a structure that lasts for centuries. The key to any decent rock work is good planning and finely honed skills.
The secret to moving large rocks is to think first. Plan out where the rock should go, and anticipate how it might roll. Be patient—moving rock in a hurry almost always results in the rock ending up in the wrong location. Communicate with all the crew about how the task is progressing and what move should occur next.
| Rule of thumb for roots—if perpendicular to the tread, fairly flush, and not a tripping hazard, leave them. Remove roots that are parallel with the tread. They cause erosion and create slipping hazards. Look for the reason the roots were exposed and fix that problem. |
Tools of the trade include:
Lots of high-quality rockbars; don’t settle for the cheap digging bars, you need something with high tensile strength.
Pick mattock.
Sledge hammer.
Eye protection, gloves, and hardhat; don’t even think of swinging a tool at a rock without wearing these.
Gravel box, rock bag, rucksack, rock litter; items useful for carrying rock of various sizes.
Winch and cable systems; some rocks can be dragged or lifted into place.
All sorts of motorized equipment, including rock drills and breakers.
| Remember that the two most common injuries in rock work are pinched (or smashed) fingers and tweaked (or blown out) backs. Both sets of injuries are a direct result of using muscles first and brains last. High-quality rock work is almost always a methodical, even tedious task. Safe work is ALWAYS faster than taking time out for a trip to the infirmary. |
Blasting is useful for removing rocks or greatly reducing their size. Careful blasting techniques can produce gravel-sized material. Motorized equipment can be used to split boulders or to grind down projecting tread obstacles. Chemical expansion agents poured into drilled holes will break large rocks without explosives. Drills and wedges can be used to quarry stone for retaining walls or guide structures.
Your specific trail maintenance specifications may call for removing embedded rocks. Use good judgment here. Often very large rocks are better removed by blasting. Other solutions include ramping the trail over them, or rerouting the trail around them.
Rockbars work great for moving medium and large rocks. Use the bars to pry rocks out of the ground and then to guide them around. When crew members have two or three bars under various sides of a large rock they can apply leverage to the stone and virtually float it to a new location with a rowing motion. Use small rocks or logs as a fulcrum for better leverage.
| When dealing with rocks, work smarter, not harder. Skidding rocks is easiest. Rolling them is sometimes necessary. Lifting rocks is the last resort. |
It may seem like fun at the time, but avoid the temptation to kick a large stone loose. When rocks careen down the mountainside they may knock down small trees, gouge bark, wipe out trail structures, and start rockslides.
Even worse is the possibility an out-of-control rock might cross a trail or road below you, hitting someone. If there is any possibility of people below, close the trail or road, or post sentries in safe locations to warn travelers of the danger.
You might construct a barrier by laying logs against two trees to stop a rolling rock before it gains much momentum. Once a rock is loose, do not try to stop it.
When you need to lift rocks, be sure to keep your back straight and to lift with the strong muscles of your legs. Sharing the burden with another person is sometimes a good idea.
To load a large rock into a wheelbarrow, lean the wheelbarrow back on its handles, roll the rock in gently over the handles (or rocks placed there) and tip the wheelbarrow forward onto its wheels. Keep your fingers clear any time you deal with rocks.
Small stones are often needed for fill material behind crib walls, in turnpikes and cribbed staircases, and in voids in talus sections of trail. Buckets and wheelbarrows are handy here. So are canvas carrying bags. If you are part of a large crew, handing rocks person-to-person often works well. Remember, twisting your upper body while holding a heavy rock usually isn’t a good idea.
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