Paugussett Bridge Blowout

The Shelton side of the bridge was pushed off its footing

The beautiful bridge over Round Hill Brook on the Shelton/Monroe border was shoved a few feet downriver on the Shelton side. The Monroe side was cabled securely to a tree and stayed in place. We just found out about it, although it happened during the August deluge that flooded much of the region. This was an Eagle Scout project in 2020 by Korey Barber and Troop 27. 

Alex at CFPA had taken a look at the bridge earlier and deemed it to be passable until next season when new footings can be constructed. Although it's twisted and doesn't feel very stable, it doesn't appear to be in any danger of collapsing. CFPA lost many bridges throughout the region during the flood. At Webb Mountain, a new Paugussett Bridge was swept away and another bridge sustained damage but was repaired. Bridges that were firmly secured were more likely to have survived the floods. Both of the Scout bridges at Birchbank were overtopped but survived. 

We didn't know about this problem for three months, in part because we had been told the bridge was still there and thought that meant it was OK. At the time, we were focused on cleaning up from the big microburst at Shelton Lakes and Boehm Pond. Remember, if you see something, say something! We don't live out on the trails, nor do we routinely walk every section of the 32-mile system. We've had multiple cases this year of massive blowdowns completely blocking a trail for weeks or even months and not one single person told us. Help future trail users by contacting us when there's a serious problem like that. Don't assume we know about it. It's not being a complainer, it's being a trail hero!

So Many Stepping Stones!

 

New Paugussett stepping stones

The Paugussett Trail through the woods of the old Wiacek farm near the High School have been a problem for years. The broad hillside is seasonally wet for a good 300 feet due to hardpan. After building an 85-foot bogwalk for the lower section, work continued gradually up the trail in the form of stepping stones and is now complete.  That's over 200 feet of stepping stones. Some of the stones were already there, but most are new.  The "flash drought" of 2024 turned out to be the perfect time to work in this area. 

The big rock behind the hole will become a stepping stone

Putting these stones in was more arduous than laying patio stones. The rocks were typically 6-9" deep and irregularly shaped. Finding a flat-sided rock of a good size from the woods was a challenge. When you look at a stepping stone, you're only seeing a small portion of the rock, which is mostly underground for stability. A deep hole needed to be dug through lots of tree roots and rocks. Some of the roots and rocks were so large that the stepping stones needed to be spaced to fit around them, or a smaller stepping stone may have been used.

Terry Gallagher dug in some of the rocks.
Note the fresh dirt in foreground.

But before any of that, there was earthwork. Much of the trail had become compacted and sunken, so that it looked like a water-filled moat during mud season. There were obstructions that prevented water from draining off to the side, including stacks of branches and logs that had been tossed just off the edge of the trail to form an accidental dam. There were also a few scattered lines of rocks that had been placed onto the ground years ago during a work party in an attempt to create stepping stones.  These obstructions had trapped soil and rotting leaves, and then tree root had come up through them.  Water flowed down the trail instead of across it. These obstructions were all removed and avenues for drainage re-established. 

Annoying ground conditions before
new stepping stones were installed. 

Buckets of sediments were then spread along the trail so that it was no longer sunken and could drain. This also covered some of the exposed roots and rocks that cluttered the treadway. Speaking of treadway, two treadways were established: A summer tread and a mud-season tread. This isn't common for hiking trails, but the land here is atypical. It's not a classic mucky wetland. It's near the top of a gently sloping, broad hillside covered in a layer of hardpan a few inches down. The water cannot get through the hardpan, but it does gradually drain down the hillside, and it dries out during the summer.  Most people hike during the summer, so a dirt tread option was maintained next to the stepping stone option. 

Two treadways: Wet season and dry season

If you're hiking anywhere and you come upon a bogwalk or stepping stones, you'll see that people will start walking alongside those trail improvements whenever possible. Bogwalks and stepping stones can be slippery, so if conditions are dry enough and there is room off to the side, that's where many people will walk.  The dirt used to fill in the trail mostly came from the area just up the hill where sediments from the trail had been getting washed off of the trail. There had been a whole lot of trail erosion over the past several years and this is where all that dirt ended up. 

Here's a "before" (from April 2024) and "after" in the Pin Oak Grove section near the new boardwalk:  

"Before" (April 2024)

"After" 

Between the bogwalk and the new stepping stones, this section of trail should be a lot easier during mud season!

Dam! That's a Nice View

 

The Housatonic River is the reason that Shelton and Derby exist.  Originally this was the limit of navigation for trade and settlement.  Later the River was dammed to provide hydro power to the mills and factories on both sides of the river.  This 1930's WPA mural with it's dam and smoke-belching factories celebrates that local history.  The mural is located within the post office in downtown Shelton and is worth checking out when you have the chance.

A fine group of volunteers met in Riverview Park in downtown Shelton for the annual fall clearing on The Bluff Walk overlooking the River.  It was a crisp and breezy morning and we got right to work.  Riverview Park is Shelton's oldest park and was established in the 1800's, and is home to many large trees that drop A Lot of Leaves.

Mark & Ray were futzing with the chainsaw before clearing blowdowns.

We fanned out with rakes and leaf blowers going north and south from the basketball court.  Clouds of leaves and dust were flying everywhere.  The trail has some nice overlooks of the river now that many of the leaves are down.  This is the Pootatuck Indian's memorial boulder on the south end of the trail.  

An initial clearing of leaves with the leaf blower, was followed up with volunteers raking and cutting brush.  Teamwork was a plus with this many leaves.  Pardon the thumb.

Gary was doing a fine job clearing.

This was the "before" picture of the blowdown blocking the trail, just below the baseball fields.

Mark and Ray cutting up the tree top.

And the 'after" photo - all clear.  They also got a couple of other blowdowns before heading up to Birchbank Mountain to cut up another blowdown.

The baseball fields were just above the trail.  Riverview Park is not large, but it has a nice mix of trails, paved drives and sidewalks that allow for public enjoyment of the River, particularly during the Fall.

The Parks and Recreation Dept. cleared out the main overlook of the River by the "Boy with a Fish" statue this fall.  Nice Job.

With good views of the dam.  Compare that to the Post Office Mural.

The dam owners have lowered the water level upstream of the dam for maintenance.  Contractors were restoring rip rap erosion protection at the toe of the dam.  We could occasionally hear them yelling at each other working on the dam while we were working on the trails.

Ellen had one group of volunteers.  We were also picking up whatever trash that we could find as we worked.

Ted was cutting saplings and branches following the clearing.  The trail could use some benching and drainage in places.  Possibly a good spring project or scout project.

Aleck and Jake were wading thru the leaves.  Parks & Rec staff clears the drives and roads, then we do the trails.   Hopefully, now that the trails are clear the P&R folks can keep them clear while doing the rest of their fall maintenance.

Bodie, John, and Danny were doing a fine job clearing the trails.  They not only brought their own leaf blowers they used one of the Trails Committee's backpack leaf blowers.  Those are a blast when clearing trails.

On a lot of our trails we deliberately leave the leaves on the trails to protect the topsoil and provide a safer winter footing.  Riverview is a special case though, and we need to blow leaves here.   Plus it is a bumper crop for acorns this year.  It's almost a hazard with the dry leaves walking on steeper slopes.  Bill Dyer almost took a tumble scouting out the work party.  

Trail Safety Tip:  Bring trekking poles or a walking stick for hiking this Fall.  Trying to hike down a slope on some of those acorns is like trying to walk on ball bearings.

The main trail crosses an old concrete bridge that was built in the 1930"s?  We think.  There was some work done on the trails in the 30's as part of a CCC or WPA work.

 The northern end of the trail ties into the park drives by the kiddie playground.

The kids playground is a popular spot for families with small children.  I think most of the families in the area have taking their hyperactive kids there to burn off some steam and one time.

Did we mention that there were a lot of Big Oak Trees in Riverview Park.  Several that were planted were decedents of Connecticut's Original Charter Oak Tree.

These massive trees have quite the leaf canopy, hence all the heavy duty trail clearing every fall.  It's one of our main seasonal tasks.

John, Danny, Bodie, Aleck & Jake were clearing out the lower trail as a production line of rakes and leaf blowers.  The Yale Rowing Teams were practicing on the River while we were working.  

It was fun to watch the rowing teams, and listen to them while we worked.  Luckily, we didn't have a coach in a boat behind us with a megaphone telling us to rake faster.  The Yale Boathouse is right across the shore from Riverview Park and the park was a popular viewing spot to watch boat races.

Teamwork along the side hills.
 

And the final product; a cleared trail that is easy to follow.  Nice job by everyone and we hope that all the leaves and dust comes out of your clothes, ears, and hair some day.  It was a fine morning along the Housatonic River and The Bluff Walk.

Note to File:  Bring Dust Masks next year.

Riverview Park is a great spot to enjoy in the fall.  Remember, these trails didn't make themselves, and they sure don't maintain themselves.  Thanks to everyone who came out to help: Ellen, Ray, Mark, Luis, Bodie, Danny, John, Ted, Gary, Jake, Ray, Aleck, Angeli,  & Terry. 

Applied Physics: Wiacek Woods Work Party

Saturday we met to help continue work near the new Paugussett Trail bog walk at Wiacek Woods.  Bill Dyer got a work out with his twin crow bar trekking poles hiking into the work zone.  He'll probably want more at the next work party.  It was good to walk through all the improved sections of the Trail that we had worked on earlier in the year.  With all the fallen leaves you could hardly tell that there had been major trail construction there earlier.

 Teresa showed off the new bog walk sections to the volunteers.

Teresa Gallagher showed off the new bog walk to the volunteers.

Ellen, Bill & Tom trimmed out the Birch Tunnel section out to Meadow Street.  There were a lot of broken branches poking in at eye level.  It's now really inviting instead of a scary Halloween ride.

Matt and Aidan did a good job with moving rocks over for stepping stones.  

Rocks lines up to become stepping stones

Aidan and Matt also carried earth to cover eroded sections of the trail with a lot of roots that were sticking up.  This made the footing a lot nicer.

We had a lot of lessons in applied physics.  

• rolling a big rock is easier than lifting one,
• lift with your legs, not with your back,
• rock nets and teamwork make it a lot easier to move heavy rocks,
• a crow bar with a fulcrum to lever up rocks can be your friend,
• hand tracks also are good back saving devices for moving heavy rocks,
• keep your fingers and toes out from under rocks while being picked up with a bar in case the bar slips,
• wear leather work boots rather than sneakers, if possible, while doing rock work

Tom cleared out sight lines along the Meadow St. pull-off opposite Mayflower Lane.  The Paugussett Trail exits the Birch Tunnel at Meadow St. and becomes a short road walk to the cul-de-sac at the end of the road after that.

UI had people up in a bucket working on the new lines

Thanks to Tom, Matt, Aidan, Bill, Ellen, Teresa, and Terry for working on this section today.  This section of the Paugussett Trail has see a lot of improvements this year.

New Paugussett Bog Walk at Wiacek Meadows

Securing the last board

The Paugussett Trail has a new 85-foot bog walk to address the lower section of the seasonal wet area near Meadow Street (see previous post).  Mark Vollaro and Terry Gallagher purchased the 2x8" and 5x5" boards at Home Depot and rented a truck to drop the materials at the Meadow Street trailhead. Terry returned to cut the 8-foot 5x5's into thirds to be used as "sleepers." A couple days later, Mark and Ray used the Trails Gator to cart the boards closer to the work site. Getting the building materials was at least half of the job right there.  Over the next few days, I (Teresa) finished the job by laying out the boards, leveling them up, and securing them with screws. 

Two stacks of Home Depot lumber at the Meadow St. trailhead

Even though the Wiacek Meadows Open Space is at the top of a  broad hill,  there is a solid layer of hardpan a few inches down that resists both water and tree roots. During the wet season, that thin layer of topsoil is often waterlogged because the water cannot penetrate the hardpan, but during the summer it can become bone dry since it's at the top of a hill. During peak hiking season, the trail is normally dry and you would never know the trail gets wets. For this reason, the existing tread was preserved for summer hiking and the new bog walk was set off to the side for use when the rains come. 

The Pin Oak Grove

The bog walk curves through a grove of large Pin Oaks, a tree that tolerates poorly drained sites, which this certainly is. Pin Oaks are used in landscaping because they do well on human-impacted sites, but are less commonly noticed in their natural settings. They can be identified by the lowest branches pointing towards the ground, and their sharp pointy leaves that are cut more deeply than other oaks. These Pin Oaks are particularly large for this area. Some of the tops were damaged from the August 3 microburst. 

The Lumber Run for Bog Walk Construction

A lot of pressure treated lumber was needed for the bog walk at the Wiacek Woods.  More than the roof rack of our cars could carry, so we experimented with renting a truck at Home Depot in Derby on a Sunday morning.

Mark arranged the truck rental with Dwight in the Rental Department.

Mark and Shawn loading lumber (Shawn and Greg in the Lumber Department were great helping us load up lumber - couldn't ask for nicer people).  We had a lot of 5"x5"x8' and 2x8x8' pressure treated timbers to get.

We got one of the $19/hr. trucks, Mark loaded it up, while I signed my life away with a lease agreement.  It was actually pretty easy, but Home Depot's Legal Department apparently doesn't want people taking off for parts unknown with any of their trucks.

We had our one safety incident of the trip when Mark jumped into the cab and banged the Funny Bone in his left elbow on the truck center console.  Me, being the helpful guy that I am, took a picture of him.

The truck was the right size for 10 bog bridges.  Too many more and we might've needed some tie-down straps.

Driving safely and carefully over to Shelton we dropped off our load at Meadow Street.  Teresa Gallagher met us there and after unloading assisted us with backing out onto Meadow St.  We put a little gas back in the Truck and returned it to Home Depot with nary a scratch on it.  And within the 1.5 hr. timeline to pay just $19 to rent the truck!

Later I went back up to Meadow St. with a chainsaw to cut the 5x5 sleepers into smaller 2'-8" sections.  These would go on the ground and the twin 2x8's screwed onto them after a lot of ground layout and preparation.  But our Lumber Run was Done!  Successfully, I might add.

Some items to note:

• Get there early if you need a truck - good planning by Mark.
  
• Home Depot staff were very helpful
• Bring help to load and offload the lumber (it was WAY easier with 2 people that one person loading the roof rack on the car)
• The HD truck worked OK.  It's an automatic transmission, with big rear view mirrors.  Take your time and drive easy.
• Thanks to Dwight, Shawn, Greg, and Kelly at Home Depot for all their help.

Yep, It gets dark out here at night.

The Trails Committee decided to host a moonlight hike, and it discovered that it does get dark out at night.  We met at Lane St to walk the RecPath and see the Hunter's Moon, and possibly even a comet.  But it was dark.

But we had a few headlamps and flashlights are were able to proceed without too much confusion.

It was a warm Thursday night so around two dozen people showed up.  No kids unfortunately, but it was a school night.  So off we headed out to the Land Trust Meadow.

We got some intrepid volunteers to go out into the meadow to try to see the comet, but we were looking in the wrong location in the sky.

There were some nice views of the full moon rising above the trees.  We headed out along the RecPath up to Wesley Drive and out toward the powerlines.

Where we got some good views of the moon and the stars near Great Ledge and Nells Loop Trail.  It was a beautiful night.

There was a nice view of The Big Dipper on our return thru the Land Trust Meadow.  Everyone made it back to Lane St. (we think), and had a good time.  Another nocturnal hiking adventure in the books.