It’s an exciting time at Lehigh Portland Trails. After working for nearly two years on hacking a trail corridor out of thick woods, we’re finally seeing the actual trail surface go down. And it is beautiful!
Some photos from the work-in-progress:
The way this works is that a specialized piece of equipment called a lay-down machine crawls to one end of the trail, then dump trucks back onto the trail loads of screenings and dump them into the lay-down machine, which spreads it out onto the dirt, leaving a smooth but extremely soft trail surface. A compactor machine then comes along and rolls over the screenings, leaving a harder surface, but one that is still easily damaged by shoes or tires. The final compacting takes place when rain falls onto the surface, filters through, and leaves a firm, rugged, and all-weather trail surface.
If all goes according to plan, we’ll end up with a beautiful and high-quality surface like the Southwind Rail Trail, one which can be enjoyed for many years!
And finally, a reminder that the trails are closed while this construction is going on:
