Forest Road Stream Crossings and Location
and Inspection of Forest Roads and
Trails for BMP Compliance
About the workshop:
The Forest Road Stream Crossings and Location section of this workshop provides basic information about the location, permit acquisition, environmental considerations, general design, construction techniques, and costs of a variety of permanent and temporary forest bridges. This includes approximately three hours of indoor lectures that cover the basic concepts of bridge design considerations, stream crossing permits, selection of suitable crossing locations, and construction costs for a variety of stream crossings. Approximately four hours in the afternoon will be devoted to examination and discussion of timber bridges, low water crossings, fords, and skidder bridges. The field exercises will be conducted on university forestland approximately 20 minutes from campus. Each attendee should bring a hardhat, waterproof boots, several layers of field clothing, and a calculator. All attendees receive a packet of lecture materials and field guides.
The Inspection of Forest Roads and Trails for BMP Compliance portion of this workshop provides the basic techniques for properly locating, constructing and maintaining temporary and secondary forest roads and trails. This includes approximately eight hours of indoor lectures, conducted at the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center, that cover the basic concepts of the direct location of forest roads and trails. Approximately eight hours are devoted to applying these concepts in the field on university forestland approximately 20 minutes from campus. Participants are subdivided into small crews (four people) and each crew locates approximately 500 feet of gradeline. Attendees should bring their hardhat, boots, field clothing, hand compass, ruler dividers, cruising vest, clinometer or Abney level, and calculator. All attendees receive a packet of lecture materials including a copy of The Location of Forest Roads by T.A. Walbridge (1997).
~ to the top ~
Who should attend?
This workshop is intended for foresters or other natural resource personnel who work for forest industries, governmental agencies, or private consultants who are involved with some aspect of small forest stream crossings. It is also intended for foresters or other natural resource managers working for governmental agencies, forest industries, or private consultants. This workshop will provide training in basic techniques for proper location of forest roads and trails in an environmentally sensitive manner.
Registration:
To register online, please click here. Forest Service employees do not need to pay the registration fee in advance. However, they will need to reserve their own room at the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center.
Forest Service employees please contact Rich Aubuchon for more information.
~ to the top ~
Location and Lodging:
This workshop is being held at the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center, a full-service residential conference center on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. Blacksburg is located on U.S. Route 460, just off Interstate 81 (exit 118), 40 miles southwest of Roanoke and 50 miles east of the south exit of the West Virginia turnpike. The Virginia Tech campus lies between the U.S. 460 bypass and Blacksburg's Main Street (U.S. 460 Business). The hotel is located in downtown Blacksburg two blocks off Main Street at the corner of College Avenue and Otey Street. Parking permits are available at the lodging desk.
Lodging rooms will be held until ___________ at a rate of $54. To reserve a room, call the hotel at (540) 231-5156 (or toll free 1-877-200-3360), and mention the name of the workshop/s. Costs for lodging and meals, other that those described as part of the program, are the responsibility of the participant.
See the Continuing Education Area Information section for more information about the Blacksburg area.
CFE Credits:
This short course qualifies for 23 Category 1 Continuing Forestry Education (CFE) credits as approved by the Society of American Foresters Continuing Education Program.
~ to the top ~
Presenters:
W. Michael Aust, Associate Professor
228 Cheatham Hall, 0324
Dept of Forestry, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg VA 24061
Phone: 540-231-4523; E-mail: waust@vt.eduRien Visser, Assistant Professor
228 Cheatham Hall, 0324
Dept of Forestry, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg VA 24061
Phone: 540-231-6924; E-mail: rvisser@vt.edu
Matt Poirot, Program Manager
Virginia Department of Forestry
Fontaine Research Park,
900 Natural Resources Drive, Suite 800
Charlottesville, Virginia 22903
Phone: 434-977-6555; E-mail: poirotm@vdof.org
Workshop Schedule:
Monday, June 7
8:30-9:00 am Registration
9:00-9:20 Stream Crossing Consideration
9:20-10:00 Acquiring a Permit from DEQ
10:00-10:15 Break
10:15-11:15 Design and Construction Techniques
11:15-11:50 Construction Costs
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:00 Depart in Vans from Donaldson Brown
1:30 Wooden Span Bridges Steelbridge
2:00 Low Water Crossings
2:30 Geotextile Ford
3:00 Culverts
3:30 Stress Laminated Bridges
4:30 Vans Return to Donaldson Brown
Tuesday, June 8
7:30-8:00 am Registration
8:00-8:10 Introduction
8:10-8:40 Road Standards
8:40-9:20 Impacts from Forest Roads
9:20-9:50 Erosion Estimates
9:50-10:10 Break
10:10-10:40 Gravel Considerations and Estimates
10:40-11:30 Road Construction Techniques
11:30-12:00 Road Cost Estimates
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:00-5:00 Field Exercise 1
- Road BMP Inspection
- Erosion Estimate
Wednesday, June 9
8:00-8:30 am Reconnaissance
8:30-9:00 Drainage Structures
9:00-10:00 Grade-lines
10:00-10:15 Break
10:15-11:15 Grade-line Adjustments
11:15-12:00 Installation of Minimum Curve Radius with Chord Offset
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:00-5:00 Field Exercise 2
- Curve Installation Demo
- Direct Location Exercise (Crew Exercise)
- Reconnaissance
- Gradeline Installation
- Tangents
- Curves
~ to the top ~