# Building in Sand



## Bugbait (Jun 23, 2008)

I'm from eastern NC, where the ground is almost exclusively sand with a very thin layer of topsoil (if you're lucky). This makes for a series of trailbuilding challenges, not the least of which is preventing tight singletrack from turning into a 2-lane roadway.

Can anyone offer advice about how to keep very sandy soil in place on banked and unbanked turns?


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## crank1979 (Feb 3, 2006)

I feel your pain. In the Sydney area all of our trails are sand/sandstone based and drainage and erosion are a problem, as well as building berms.

One solution for berms that i'm going to experiment with is using sandbags. There is plenty of sand available! Another option is to build a rock armoured berm. I try not to use timber to build stuff or additives like cement.

I'm still learning and experimenting though.


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

We use pavers and peeler core on the sandy stretches that we have.




























I know it does not look that loose, but this is during an El Nino winter of about 130% rain. It is very soft now and they keep the trail from blowing out in corners.


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## Bugbait (Jun 23, 2008)

Great suggestions about the pavers and sand bags. Thanks!


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## Megashnauzer (Nov 2, 2005)

if you're dirt poor (pun intended) like we are you learn to live with a little sand. that said we have found some ways to keep the sand from getting out of control. we've found if you keep the trail slope less than 5%, the sand and leaf litter tends not to erode during heavy rain. also leaf litter is your friend. it helps hold the sand together and keeps it compacted. tree cover helps a lot with this so try to keep a canopy over the trail. trees also help dampen the impact of heavy rain and shade the trail so it doesn't dry out so fast. we build big water bars to keep water from running down the trial and to help direct it off the trail. water bars are probably old school but they work pretty well for us. 90% of our trail is pretty sustainable but that other 10% can suck and has to be maintained fairly regularly. we also share our trail with equestrians and their impact is pretty severe. i'm in nw florida btw.


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## Bugbait (Jun 23, 2008)

I know what you mean about the equestirans. We see the same problem, especially in areas with poor drainage. The popular solution here seems to be to cover the world in treated lumber. This is generally fine so long as the patchway is not too wide.


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