Head Pond Connector Trail Final Report Project Area: From Head Pond in Berlin to Rt. 110B in Milan

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1 Milan Trail Huggers ATV Club P.O. Box 42 Milan, NH Maintaining Trails in Milan, Stark and Dummer Head Pond Connector Trail Final Report Project Area: From Head Pond in Berlin to Rt. 110B in Milan By Larry Gomes, Trail Master Phone: December 6, 2017 Area 1 Head Pond Road in Berlin to log yard in Milan (3.67 miles) This section of trail follows an existing logging road that has fallen into disrepair over the years. Along most of the road, the ditch lines were overgrown, large potholes were present, culverts were coming out of the ground and in one spot there was a failed culvert. The following work was completed for Area 1: 1) Cut pine trees at end of Head Pond Road that are too big for the brush hog (chainsaw). 2) Brush-hogged both sides of the logging road to allow excavator access to the ditches for a distance of 3.1 miles. 3) Reset several culverts that have been pushed up by the frost. 4) Installed one new culvert past the second bridge to replace a failed culvert. 5) Trucked in 6-inch minus rock on 50 long section of the road past the second bridge that was low and had poor road base. This brought the road up and stabilized that section of road. 6) Installed three culverts in water bars on northern end of the logging road. 7) Cleaned out ditches along over 3 miles of road. 8) Trucked in new gravel to fill large potholes. 9) Removed rocks from the road that have been pushed up by the frost. 10) Graded and crowned the entire road (3.6 miles) using large road grader. 11) Rock raked the entire road (3.6 miles). 12) Installed trail sign posts and trail signs. Milan Trail Huggers Head Pond Connector Project Report Page 1 of 16

2 Area 1 Pictures: Brush hogging on northern end of Head Pond Road. Brush hogging on southern end of Head Pond Road. Milan Trail Huggers Head Pond Connector Project Report Page 2 of 16

3 Signage and completed road surface on upper end of Head Pond Road. Milan Trail Huggers Head Pond Connector Project Report Page 3 of 16

4 Area 2 Skidder trail from log yard to Copperville log road in Milan (.72 miles) This section of trail follows an old skidder trail that goes along the side of a small hill. The trail is rough, with rocks and stumps along the entire route but the route is dry with only cross-trail runoff needing to be addressed. The following work was completed for Area 2: 1) Cut back trees along edges of the skidder trail to 20 width and cut overhanging branches along entire length of trail (chainsaw). 2) Removed rocks and stumps from the trail and widened to fifteen feet. 3) Added new ditching on the uphill side of this trail where needed. 4) Installed a total of 10 culverts to route runoff from the up-hill side ditching across the trail. 5) Crowned trail for proper water runoff. 6) Installed a gate with ATV pass-thru to keep 4-wheel drive vehicles from entering this section of trail. 7) Install trail sign posts and trail signs. Cutting back trees along edges of skidder trail at the start of the project in March. Milan Trail Huggers Head Pond Connector Project Report Page 4 of 16

5 Dragging in culverts along newly built section of trail. Note ditching on uphill side. Milan Trail Huggers Head Pond Connector Project Report Page 5 of 16

6 Installation of gate and ATV pass-thru to protect new trail. Milan Trail Huggers Head Pond Connector Project Report Page 6 of 16

7 Area 3 Copperville logging road in Milan (.25 miles) This section of trail follows one of the old logging roads established in the Copperville area of Milan. The road has some overhanging branches and some deep water bars, but other than those minor issues, the road is in very good shape. The following work was completed for Area 3: 1) Cut back overhanging branches along length of trail (chainsaw work). 2) Restored ditch line where needed. 3) Installed culverts in 3 existing water bars. 4) Graded and crowned the road. 5) Installed trail sign posts and trail signs. Section of old logging road just before overhanging trees were cut back. Sorry - No pictures available after work was done. Milan Trail Huggers Head Pond Connector Project Report Page 7 of 16

8 Area 4 Copperville logging road to log yard on Town of Milan land (1.23 miles) This section of trail follows some old skidder roads for.75 miles before going through some sparsely populated wood lands for.25 miles and then following an existing skidder trail into Town of Milan land for.23 miles. The following work was completed for Area 4: 1) Cut back overhanging branches and widened trail to 15 wide along path of old skidder roads. 2) Cut a new trail through sparsely populated woods. 3) Remove rocks and stumps from the new trail. 4) Added ditching where needed. 5) Installed a total of ten 15 culverts to route runoff from the up-hill side ditching across the new trail. 6) Installed a 36 culvert to drain runoff from small valley. 7) Built a new 20 long wood-beam bridge over an existing brook. 8) Built a new 33 long steel-beam bridge over an existing brook. 9) Crowned trail for proper water runoff. 10) Installed trail sign posts and trail signs. Section old skidder road before widening. Milan Trail Huggers Head Pond Connector Project Report Page 8 of 16

9 Cutting back the trees along the old skidder road. Cutting through the sparse woods section. Milan Trail Huggers Head Pond Connector Project Report Page 9 of 16

10 Completed section of trail along fairly flat ground. Milan Trail Huggers Head Pond Connector Project Report Page 10 of 16

11 Installing V-shaped rubber diverters on steep section of trail. Milan Trail Huggers Head Pond Connector Project Report Page 11 of 16

12 Installing the donated beams for the 20 bridge. Donated decking and runners are installed on the 20 bridge. Milan Trail Huggers Head Pond Connector Project Report Page 12 of 16

13 33 steel bridge I-beams being installed by the excavator. Installing the stringers and decking on the 33 bridge. Milan Trail Huggers Head Pond Connector Project Report Page 13 of 16

14 Decking and runners are installed on the 33 bridge. Milan Trail Huggers Head Pond Connector Project Report Page 14 of 16

15 Area 5 Logging Road to Rt. 110B (1.8 miles) This section of trail follows an existing logging road that was rebuilt in the fall of The road was in good condition except for ruts that were left over from the logging operation. The following work was completed for Area 5: 1) Inspected all culverts along road and cleaned out debris where needed. 2) Graded and crowned the entire road using large road grader. 3) Rock raked the entire road. 4) Added gravel to the road where needed. 5) Install steel gate and OHRV pass-thru at the northern end of the logging road. 6) Installed trail sign posts and trail signs. New steel gate installed at the end of graded and rock raked logging road. Milan Trail Huggers Head Pond Connector Project Report Page 15 of 16

16 Summary Work on this project was started in March of 2017 and completed in October of In addition to the Federal RTP grant and State of New Hampshire GIA grant, the club also received a donation of $850 from the New Hampshire ATV Club to cover the cost of an oversize culvert that was not included in the original project plan. The club also received a donation of 4 wood bridge beams for a 20 bridge from the United Trail Volunteers of Maine which is a coalition of over 20 motorized and nonmotorized clubs. A club member donated all of the decking needed for that same bridge. These two donations saved the club over $1, which was used to purchase additional culverts that were needed for the project. Finally a total of 20 volunteers donated over 500 hours of labor as an RTP match. All of these resources were necessary to complete this project which will have a major impact on the area. The new trail will reduce the distance between two of the most popular ATV trails system from 38 miles (by trail) or 21 miles (by road) to only 9 miles. As a result, we expect this new trail to be one of the most heavily used trails in the Ridethe-Wilds trail system. We sincerely thank the Federal RTP administrators and the New Hampshire Bureau of Trails for providing the funding for this project. Milan Trail Huggers Head Pond Connector Project Report Page 16 of 16