Stabilized Engineered Wood Fiber for Accessible Trails

Introduction

Wood chip surfaces on trails create difficulties for those who use mobility aids, such as wheelchairs and walkers, due to their softness, shifting, and uneven surface. This report is part of the third phase of research in pursuit of an accessible stable and smooth surface based on wood fiber. The study originally targeted the use of engineered wood fiber (EWF) (ASTM 2004) for playgrounds. In Phase I, processing techniques and material properties were evaluated in small benchtop and full-depth laboratory tests (Laufenberg and others 2003). Phase II involved further development of the best Phase I system in 6-month outdoor field testing (Laufenberg and Winandy 2003).

In Phase III of this project, we investigated the applicability and field performance of the two best candidate resin/EWF systems. The previous phases had shown that our new resin/EWF systems can enhance mobility as related to the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and can perform in an outdoor environment. This report describes the development of a concept for stabilizing EWF to improve wheelchair and walker accessibility for outdoor recreational trails where traditional paving would be costly and would detract from the natural aesthetics. In this portion of the Phase III study, we installed our two most promising EWF stabilizing binders on a walkway across a sandy beach extending down to the water's edge. This surfacing material concept was to mix a binder with EWF to create a stiff (firm) and scuff-resistant (stable) composite. Stabilized EWF (SEWF) is a system that has enhanced accessibility and should reduce erosion and maintenance costs for trail systems.