RAINDROPS ARE FALLING - ANDY'S REPORT

​Generally the trail has stood up very well to the extreme weather event of 7/3-8/3/17. The following items were noted and fixed where possible:
 
1.0All bridges inspected and debris removed from under bridges. All streams are now flowing without any obstructions.
 
2.0Removed all loose debris from track surface. There was quite a lot of debris near Pa Point washed down onto the trail (see photo)
 
3.0All inorganic debris(plastic bottles etc washed down with the flood)collected and brought back to the shed for disposal.
 
4.0All drains checked for free flow. Debris/rocks removed where necessary. Two drains badly blocked and water has flowed down the track scouring out the surface, both these drains are now operating as they should. Some additional metal is required to fill in the scouring in two places (see photo at 3km)
 
5.0Minor slips cleared but there are three slips in the 3-4km area which will require a bobcat or small digger for speedy removal and the batter faces to be adjusted back as necessary (see photos).
 
6.0The sandy area near bridge no 2 has stood up well to the deluge but the retaining logs have been shifted and will require relocating and some back filling required.(see photo)
 
7.0There is a major wash out at about 2.7Km. A new stream has made itself apparent complete with water fall. The trail is not passable at this point due to debris and 300mm of mud over a 25m long area. We need to decide how to fix this but probably a culvert will be necessary. We can discuss over the next few days. (see photos)
 
8.0 We found two dead rats at the Millen Waterfall park in close proximity to the Good Nature killer and the counter showed two more hits.
 
9.0There was a dead wattle and Punga across the trail at about 3.5km. We cleared this with a handsaw (human chainsaw!) as we could not get the buggy there with the other tools due to the washout.
 
 
All in all we have a robust trail and it has weathered this event well. We did not know about this new stream which has caused the wash out!
 
Cheers
Andy (Bolton)

Editor's note: Andy and Peter Millen did this work.  They, along with John McKenzie, maintain our trail on a regular basis. No fuss; they just get on with it.  -  Absolute stars!

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