Continuing our work up on Stone Arthur

After completing the repairs lower down the path on Stone Arthur, we commenced work up towards the summit. 

Our work here was interspersed with days out around the Central and Eastern Lakes surveying the upland footpaths. During the surveys, we photographed damaged areas of path and graded the severity of the damage. This work will be used to set a benchmark on the state of the paths and will also help us identify priority work. 

The section being repaired on Stone Arthur had started to get a lot worse over recent years and was being badly gullied out by the rain.

Lower section (before landscaping)

A lot of the damage appeared to be caused by the depth of the topsoil. In places the soil was only a couple of centimetres thick which meant the grass was very shallowly rooted. Once the grass had been trampled, the surface layer of soil was quickly washed away and the compact subsoil underneath funnelled the water down the path.

Completed lower section

In the following photograph you can see the depth of the bank next to the footpath, which is indicative of how deep the gulley originally was. We roughly stuck to the line of the original eroded path as it was a good line to walk and nicely meandered, taking out some of the gradient.

Middle section before landscaping

You can see in the photo below how the exposed edge next to the footpath has been removed during the landscaping process.

Completed middle section

When the rock was flown to site it was dropped on the eroded line of the path. You can see how it had also started to erode next to the footpath as people did not want to walk in the gulley. 

Bags in place on upper section

Making progress on the upper section

The path sides have again been angled and turfed to help the path blend in with its surroundings. The spoil that was created while building the path was also turfed over and seeded with grass.

Upper section after landscaping

A stone drain was incorporated towards the top of the footpath to prevent any rainwater travelling down the path and causing damage. A long drain at the very top of the path will also help keep future water damage to a minimum.

Stone drain

With winter fast approaching, we've only got a few more metres to go to finish the stone pitching and the rest of the associated landscaping. Once completed, we'll make sure we get back next spring to check on things and put a little more grass seed down.

Just a couple of metres to go