Trail Project report: Fitch Estate drainage ditch crossing

[Paul]

Dear Friends of Trails, and NDO

Yesterday Bill Neacy, Ralph Acaba, John Wiesner, Steve Legge, and I teamed up to spread 5 cubic yards of gravel over geo-grid to provide a dry path over a 16’ wide drainage ditch on a new trail easement.  The easement starts at the cul-de-sac of Wallace Rd. (off Pepperell Rd. near Fitch’s Bridge) and ends at the old Brookline and Pepperell Railroad right-of-way that runs from Fitch’s Bridge to Hill Rd.  We had to move the old easement because a house will be built in the middle of the field where the trail was located.  The Trails Committee also wants to thank the original owners of the land, Susan and Paul Shay, and their attorney Bob Collins, who worked with us to maintain public access to the railroad right-of-way and who paid for the gravel we used.  And we’d also like to thank Brian Lagasse who delivered the two loads of gravel to the work site and went out of his way to reduce the amount of movement of the gravel that we had to do.  His truck got stuck in the mud, but the story ended happily after we used the gravel he delivered to get some traction so he could drive away in about 15 minutes. 

Happy Trails,

Paul

 

Home:  978-448-2813

Mobile:  978-302-9854

 

[Paul Lohnes]

Hi Paul,

Wondering if/how to address an issue over in Groton. The Cow Pond Brook over by the iron bridge has risen to the point where the little wooden bridge we have built is now floating and impossible to cross. Need to do some recon to see if the beavers have been at work by the culvert under the redline path...or maybe they raised the dam height on the Cow Pond Brook Reservoir?

Anyway, has building a more permanent bridge much higher above the brook been considered? Losing this access cuts off the Esker and Haystack from the rest of the trail systems in Groton.

Thanks for any guidance.

Paul

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[Matt Miller]

Gosh, that really does limit access. Hoping there is a solution!

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 16, 2021, at 6:21 AM, Paul Lohnes <paul....@gmail.com> wrote:



To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mtnbike/CABS2_FYC94Xp%3D_EdMA0_XLBWP-1%2B_egL51sZxeX0egS0Br0o8A%40mail.gmail.com.

[Paul Lohnes]

Paul,

Thanks for the feedback. Damn..I was just over there but did not have a camera. So here's what is happening. Basically my surmise was correct. Beyond the Esker, about 200m north on the Redline Trail is a culvert that basically takes the entire drainage area of Cow Pond Brook all the way from Lost Lake and runs it under the Redline Trail and into the Cow Pond Brook Reservoir/Upper Masspoag Pond. As you know, that dumps over the new Dam into Masspoag Pond proper. The tricky little beavers took the easy way out and only had to dam up a 3x3 granite culvert that is now flooding backwards and impacting that iron bridge and low area (and I am sure other places up stream). Basically, the water is up to the bottom of the Iron Bridge and a solid 3' deep in the wet area where we had built the narrow bridge.

In addition, I would assume downstream is being affected as well with low water.....I would think whatever town has jurisdiction over that culvert would want to eliminate that beaver dam so the brook could run as it is intended? That would solve the need for needing a new bridge in my opinion. 

I did find one pic...buddy tried to ride the floating bridge...no luck..

On Tue, Nov 16, 2021 at 9:41 AM Paul <pgf...@verizon.net> wrote:

Paul,

Do you have any pictures to share that show the area recently?  Trails Committee is meeting tonight and I could show them what’s up.

I’m not sure if you’re talking about just building a bigger bridge where the thin wooden one is or a bridge over the brook plus the wet area.

Building a bridge over (just) the brook has certainly been discussed numerous times, but it would be quite expensive, particularly if it would need to be substantial enough for fire/rescue vehicles to pass over.  Land ownership is also a bit of an uncertainty.

For anything to be done by us, an RDA would first have to be filed (since whoever put the current bridge up did not do so).  Then we would have to abide by any restrictions that the Conservation Commission might impose.  It could end up being a fairly big project even if it didn’t include going over the brook.

But I agree with the critical importance of maintaining a connection between trails on either side of Cow Pond Brook.  But even under the best circumstances, the grant submission dates are coming up very soon and so we couldn’t get anything submitted for this project until Feb. 2023 , with work commencing perhaps in the fall of 2023.

Thanks for bringing these changing conditions to my attention.

Paul

 

From: Paul Lohnes <paul....@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2021 6:21 AM
To: mtn...@googlegroups.com
Cc: Paul <pgf...@verizon.net>
Subject: Re: (MTB) Trail Project report: Fitch Estate drainage ditch crossing

 

Hi Paul,

 

Wondering if/how to address an issue over in Groton. The Cow Pond Brook over by the iron bridge has risen to the point where the little wooden bridge we have built is now floating and impossible to cross. Need to do some recon to see if the beavers have been at work by the culvert under the redline path...or maybe they raised the dam height on the Cow Pond Brook Reservoir?

 

Anyway, has building a more permanent bridge much higher above the brook been considered? Losing this access cuts off the Esker and Haystack from the rest of the trail systems in Groton.

 

Thanks for any guidance.

 

Paul

 

Virus-free. www.avast.com

 

On Sat, Aug 21, 2021 at 9:47 PM 'Paul' via NDO Mountain Biking <mtn...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Dear Friends of Trails, and NDO

Yesterday Bill Neacy, Ralph Acaba, John Wiesner, Steve Legge, and I teamed up to spread 5 cubic yards of gravel over geo-grid to provide a dry path over a 16’ wide drainage ditch on a new trail easement.  The easement starts at the cul-de-sac of Wallace Rd. (off Pepperell Rd. near Fitch’s Bridge) and ends at the old Brookline and Pepperell Railroad right-of-way that runs from Fitch’s Bridge to Hill Rd.  We had to move the old easement because a house will be built in the middle of the field where the trail was located.  The Trails Committee also wants to thank the original owners of the land, Susan and Paul Shay, and their attorney Bob Collins, who worked with us to maintain public access to the railroad right-of-way and who paid for the gravel we used.  And we’d also like to thank Brian Lagasse who delivered the two loads of gravel to the work site and went out of his way to reduce the amount of movement of the gravel that we had to do.  His truck got stuck in the mud, but the story ended happily after we used the gravel he delivered to get some traction so he could drive away in about 15 minutes. 

Happy Trails,

Paul

 

Home:  978-448-2813

Mobile:  978-302-9854

 

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[Paul Lohnes]

Paul,

Looking at the maps, it appears this culvert is in Groton..so maybe you have some channels to see if it can be cleared?

P

On Tue, Nov 16, 2021 at 11:01 AM Paul Funch <pgf...@verizon.net> wrote:

That's funny even though it's not!

Definitely shows the situation. 

Thanks. 

-------- Original message --------

From: Paul Lohnes <paul....@gmail.com>

Date: 11/16/21 10:48 AM (GMT-05:00)

To: Paul <pgf...@verizon.net>

Subject: Re: (MTB) Trail Project report: Fitch Estate drainage ditch crossing

Paul,

Thanks for the feedback. Damn..I was just over there but did not have a camera. So here's what is happening. Basically my surmise was correct. Beyond the Esker, about 200m north on the Redline Trail is a culvert that basically takes the entire drainage area of Cow Pond Brook all the way from Lost Lake and runs it under the Redline Trail and into the Cow Pond Brook Reservoir/Upper Masspoag Pond. As you know, that dumps over the new Dam into Masspoag Pond proper. The tricky little beavers took the easy way out and only had to dam up a 3x3 granite culvert that is now flooding backwards and impacting that iron bridge and low area (and I am sure other places up stream). Basically, the water is up to the bottom of the Iron Bridge and a solid 3' deep in the wet area where we had built the narrow bridge.

In addition, I would assume downstream is being affected as well with low water....I would think whatever town has jurisdiction over that culvert would want to eliminate that beaver dam so the brook could run as it is intended? That would solve the need for needing a new bridge in my opinion. 

[Paul Lohnes]

Oh ya...its funny.

Randy is the guy that actually built this bridge...he was with two other guys that walked it, and decided to give it a try..no luck.

I did not even dare walk it today as it is literally floating

[Paul Lohnes]

Paul,

Did anything come out of that meeting? Is Groton willing to remove that dam at the culvert. I know it will likely be rebuilt, but removing it several times will likely drop the water by a good margin..thanks

[Paul Groton, MA]

No, never got to it with our otherwise very full agenda.  Sorry.  But I'll look into it on my own.

Paul

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[Paul Lohnes]

Thanks paul

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