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ianholt
Average Member
United Kingdom
750 Posts |
 Posted - 20 March 2009 : 16:50:20
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Hi all,
Thought I would start this as an ideas and advice topic. We are all keen to get the Gonerby track up and running but what we lack (amongst other things) is knowledge on how to tackle drainage problems.
What we have is about 1/2 an acre of clay farm land which holds the water all year round and the water table is very high. Even in the summer you don't need to dig deep to find water!
To start the ball rolling I will offer my thoughts based on my limited knowledge of groundworks.
If we raise the whole track by about 12" - 18" with brick/building rubble and top it off with unsorted waste soil, then compact it all nice and firm and top that off with mostly astro turf it would give us a nice maintenance free track.
The jumps could be made from wood and covered with astro turf and so could be moved from week to week making more of a variable track layout. Also if the track is done in this way it could be used for 1/10th rally/buggy both nitro and electric. By making the track so it can be changed (missing out parts of the track to make it shorter) we can attract a much wider range of members. More members = more money for the club, more money = better facilities and more future track developments!
I know that there will always be the ones that want a clay/mud track but the upkeep of such a surface is a huge task and it would mean rebuilding the track for every season. I wonder why other tracks in the area are all astro turf?
These are just my thoughts and ideas so please offer any suggestions, for or against, so we know what the club members want. If you have any thoughts or advice on the drainage issues then please advise and I am sure if we put our heads together we can have a great track available to use all year round!
Have a look at the pictures on the Gonerby moor, track work, page 7 topic to see what the track has been like for about 6 months!
Ian
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TomTom
Average Member
Kyrgyzstan
596 Posts |
Posted - 20 March 2009 : 19:53:06
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Hi
I saw MX dave yesterday, and he is putting water on his track because its so dry!
Anyway back on topic. Again, like Ian, I dont have much idea on groundworks but Ill throw in my views. I think raising the track is obviously the best thing we could do, and Ians idea of doing it with rubble, and not just soil sounds like the best way to me (like how gardners put stones in the bottom of their plant pots). The water will be able to move freely. However, if we cant get any rubble in time, I thought of this....
If we look in the drainage pits that have been dug, they should give us an idea of how high the water table is, compare that to where the puddles are on track and it should give us an idea weather the track is lower than the water table in parts, or weather the water simply cant drain away very well due to soil compaction (a problem we are seeing with modern farming methods) from when the track was a field.
*If* it was the latter, we could try digging some small trenches accross the trouble spots sloping to the drainage pits, fill them with rubble and cover with astro, carrying the water away from the problem areas? If i remember correctly, it was always the same areas that got bad?
Again, Im no expert on these matters but thought Id share.
Tom
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ianholt
Average Member
United Kingdom
750 Posts |
Posted - 20 March 2009 : 20:57:33
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Tom, thanks for your reply, sounds like a plan to have a look in one of the trenches. Will pass it on and see if we can get down to have a look.
Ian |
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casbuster
Junior Member
United Kingdom
174 Posts |
Posted - 20 March 2009 : 21:23:09
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| the best thing is rise the track by 6 inch dig the trenches and one main trench with land drainage pipe in like a leaf pattan the smaller trenches put tram in the fill with clean stone and then cover it with more tram that will stop the dirt from filling the gaps between the stones if they block with dirt it will flood again once the top tram is inplace then lay the soil on top same as the main trench the pipe lay all the way to the dyke that will get rid of the water. |
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TomTom
Average Member
Kyrgyzstan
596 Posts |
Posted - 20 March 2009 : 22:38:47
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Ill have a wander down there tomorrow after I finish work
Tom |
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ianholt
Average Member
United Kingdom
750 Posts |
Posted - 21 March 2009 : 09:46:35
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quote:
Originally posted by casbuster
the best thing is rise the track by 6 inch dig the trenches and one main trench with land drainage pipe in like a leaf pattan the smaller trenches put tram in the fill with clean stone and then cover it with more tram that will stop the dirt from filling the gaps between the stones if they block with dirt it will flood again once the top tram is inplace then lay the soil on top same as the main trench the pipe lay all the way to the dyke that will get rid of the water.
Hi Carl, how ya doing?
Do you think 6" is enough? My wife seems to think not!
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Edited by - ianholt on 21 March 2009 09:46:54 |
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TomTom
Average Member
Kyrgyzstan
596 Posts |
Posted - 21 March 2009 : 18:02:08
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| Ok I had a look thisafternoon. half of the track is dry. There are a few big puddles still on the track, notably at the new grassy section near the race control hut, and the corners where the cars have dug a deep grove into the track. Some parts are damp underfoot. The drainage pit I looked in near the pitlane is about 6" from the top which seems the same level compared to where the puddles are forming in the grooves, but the dyke next to the access road seems to have a lower water level!?!? The new access road is excellent. Very good compared to last time I went down in Dec/Jan. One thing, I didnt think to look at the car park though...(Doh!) |
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ianholt
Average Member
United Kingdom
750 Posts |
Posted - 21 March 2009 : 18:24:24
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Thanks Tom.
So it sounds as though the water table is quite high. When we went down a couple of weeks ago the car park was like a swamp, no chance of anything less than a landrover would get stuck! Idealy the whole lot could do with being raised with rubble? |
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tcpug
New Member
United Kingdom
55 Posts |
Posted - 22 March 2009 : 01:21:09
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raising the track useing rubble would be good , water will flow through the ruble fine .
but it wont flow through astro , so the track would need to slope to the sides , or
the water would just sit on top of the astro . i would like the track to stay clay as
having to many astro tracks will make them all the same , unless theres some realy good
features that are tecknical not just hit fast . |
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ianholt
Average Member
United Kingdom
750 Posts |
Posted - 22 March 2009 : 07:45:55
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Thanks for your advice. A clay track would be great but we would need to find a way of making it fairly maintenance free. Are you sure water won't pass through astro?
Does any body else know anything about this?
I agree that most astro tracks are the same so we would need to make ours different in some way. Maybe part astro part clay part slippery part gravel etc.
Any body got any thought how to make an astro track different?
Ian |
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casbuster
Junior Member
United Kingdom
174 Posts |
Posted - 22 March 2009 : 07:54:28
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water does flow through astro thats why some many clubs use it the problem is getting the ground right so the water that passes through the astro can escape through the ground thats why some many clubs have to sweep their track after rain has fallen if the drainage is right and works well then you will have no problem with water on the track.the only way you will make the track differant is to get the flow right and the jumps profiled right and make some big ones thats what it needs and some nice turns that mean you have to slow down to get round the mo time you can add to the track the better.
carl |
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ianholt
Average Member
United Kingdom
750 Posts |
Posted - 22 March 2009 : 09:13:11
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Thanks Carl.
So how about some big banked corners with triples immediately after so you can't just nail it and clear them in 1 go!
That kind of thing?
Ian |
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grasshopper
Senior Member
1652 Posts |
Posted - 23 March 2009 : 16:24:04
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We did have on board a couple of young track designers, co-opted into producing a new track design - maybe we'll see a draft copy soon?
People that visited our track in the early days all commented how good a clay track is compared to astro - the inconsistency of natural creating a racing line that made it interesting as the track wore in through the day's racing. Many said that astro is predictably boring, but maybe they didn't have to put in the effort to keep it nice.
So, everyone knows a little of what needs doing, what we need now are the one's with the money or materials - any suggestions on that score? |
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ianholt
Average Member
United Kingdom
750 Posts |
Posted - 24 March 2009 : 16:29:58
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If we was to use earth/clay taken from site to raise the track, does any body know what would happen?
Would the track drain or would we still have the same problem? Is the rubble essential? If we could do it in such a way that the whole track slopes off to the back then have a drain trench running allong the back in to the dyke, would this work?
Would we still need astro on top to prevent ruts forming puddles?
Any thoughts
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grasshopper
Senior Member
1652 Posts |
Posted - 25 March 2009 : 00:38:27
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I suppose we're looking at nature and physics, whatever we build up the track with will do one of two things - allow water to drain through or divert it's flow elsewhere. Now what we have to do is channel any run off water from wherever it comes away from the track. This is done either by letting it drain through the astro, through the surface earth and any porous substrate - this into channels and away to the trench / dyke.
The other way is to lay the track either at a slope or cambered enough to prevent water puddling and running off the astro into the infield and trench that so we get soakaways or sumps to pump out.. Either way we should get a track that's usable
This morning (Wed 25th) at 6:30am , Chris (admin) is going down to let a man and bulldozer onto the track as well as some contractors that are clearing the soil/earth from alongside the A1 near our track, surplus soil from the recent road workings - they are going to tip soil there for us and the man and dozer is going to spread it. The main objective is to raise the track area as much as possible...
We will need volunteers very soon to get the astro laid and track marked out, as well as repairs to present fixtures. The clocks change this weekend, it'll soon be light enough to race outdoors in the evening - we need to get sorted. |
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ianholt
Average Member
United Kingdom
750 Posts |
Posted - 25 March 2009 : 06:48:36
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Sounds like a huge step forward. Great news to see that things are happening. Let me know what is going on. I may be able to spend a little time there today but won't be able to do any physical work!
Ian |
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