National Trail Surfaces Study

Data Collection Procedures

The trail surface site is hosted by Bradford Woods but NCA staff collected all data. While the site for the study was not kept confidential and the test plots are identified by signage, no data results have been posted prior to this final report.

Upon consent to participate in this study, the site owner (Bradford Woods) was asked to designate a site coordinator to provide the principal investigator (NCA Trail Study Coordinator Nikki Montembeault) with any additional information necessary for data collection, such as vendor information, cost of product installation, materials needed, and any mandatory maintenance required. Consent from the manufacturers of the products consisted of the manufacturers agreeing to the release of their product names and data collected on their surfaces to the public, and to be used for future research endeavors. Within a maximum of one month from each surface installation, a preliminary accessibility assessment of the trail surface was conducted and the surfaces were tested for firmness and stability with the Rotational Penetrometer. This was considered the first set of data collected for the longitudinal study. Accessibility assessments and trail surface testing for firmness and stability were conducted on average, three months per year for 51 months. In addition to the data collected with the Rotational Penetrometer, photos were taken of individual surface materials at both the time of the installation and during the assessments; observational notes were recorded about surface conditions at the time of the assessments and external factors that may have influenced or affected the surfaces positively or adversely. Those external factors noted included external weather temperature, recent extreme weather conditions, sun and shade conditions of the trail, and season of the year (deduced by recording the month).

The 11 trail surface segments ranged in length from 30 feet – 200 feet (see the Qualitative and Observational Analysis by Surface Type for an accurate breakdown by trail surface segment). The parameters of the Rotational Penetrometer testing consisted of testing each trail segment for firmness and stability in five locations along the trail segment. The intent of the five firmness and stability readings was to ensure readings were gathered from various locations within the segment in the event that trail surface conditions varied. Potential causes for variation might be running and cross slope, a difference in drainage and/or adjacent runoff, and sun vs. shade location of reading locations.