Day 11 Summary and Questions

Dowdy Draw Trail notes Michael (j.b.) Bittner

Different contractors built the trail and the parking lot
Trail Design
• Have to control for water flow
• GPS walkthrough mapping
o Can get as close as 6 inches
o CAD
• 3D walkthrough of the trail with pictures
• Contractors need to know everything about the trail from the plans and be able to build everything from them
Construction
• Took 6 weeks
• 10 feet wide, narrows to 18” in some areas
• Crusher fine- gravel on top
• Geotextile- rubber mat underneath
• Road base used underneath everything
• Riprap- rocks lining side
• Curved trail
1. Mitigates erosion
2. Aesthetically pleasing
3. Slows bikes
Trail features
• Mixed use-bike, horse, etc.
• Opened Oct/Nov of 2008
• Handicap accessible
• Maintained by city
o BMP’s- Best Management Practices
• Old bridge moved to new location
o Bolts had to be placed perfectly (within ½”)
• Engineered rock wall
o Able to withstand 10 year flood
• Fence used to force trail usage
o No short-cutting
• Occasional grazing from cows and sheep provides disturbance fostering plant growth
• Water pipeline from Granby lake provides front range drinking water
• Trails dug into the hillside will hold up better than anything manmade
Special areas
• HCA (Habitat Conservation Areas)
• No going off trail without a permit
• No mechanized transport
• Goshawk Ridge
o Goshawk
• Indicator species (indicators of rich ecological areas)
• F16 plane design based off Goshawk flight
• Trail goes through HCA, so no bikes or dogs
• Poaching problem with bikes
Other
• Water rights on the property override city, county, state
• Horses have right of way, then pedestrians, then bikes



Questions
• What are two reasons why the Dowdy Draw trail is curved?
o Controls erosion, it’s aesthetically pleasing
• What is the gravel called on the path we used?
o Crusher fine
• What mode of transport has the right of way on the trail?
o Horse
• How long did the project take to build?
o 6 weeks
• What notable bird is a prominent ridge we discussed named after?
o Goshawk
• Why is the Goshawk Ridge Trail problematic?
o It goes right into an HCA, mt bikers have been riding despite the closure