Chutes and ladders

[Fitz]

I climbed the Precipice Trail in Acadia the other morning. One puts a great deal of faith in the iron ladders on that trail. I also can't imagine how they were installed. Does anyone know exactly how these iron rungs were installed?

 

[DougPaul]

I climbed the Precipice Trail in Acadia the other morning. One puts a great deal of faith in the iron ladders on that trail. I also can't imagine how they were installed. Does anyone know exactly how these iron rungs were installed?

A number of people have climbed the route without using the iron aids. Another alternative would be to find a route around the difficult spots or come down from the top and lower ropes to the construction crew. Yet another method would be to climb the iron aids as far as they go and put in the next piece one-at-a-time.

Doug

 

[David Metsky]

Holes are drilled into the rocks (either with a sledge hammer star drill or power drills) and then the iron bars are hammered and/or cemented into place. You can see similar work in NH on the Beaver Brook trail on Moosilauke and the Wildcat Ridge trail up Wildcat E.

 

[BorealChickadee]

Hole depth is a minimum of 4 inches.
Iron (stainless steel is too smooth for handholds, although it has been tried for some pinning of rock wall). Cold-rolled steel is the choice.
Holes cannot be reused so if you look you'll see some multiple holes where railings have been replaced.


Quoting from "Acadia Trails Treatment Plan" page 214:

"Crimping: A pin is bent or crimped slightly, at approximately one-half the distance it will be inserted in the hole base. When inserted, this crimp causes enough pressure on the sides of the drilled hole to keep a pin in place. Crimping alone is unreliable for rungs and rails but may be used for pins. Rungs and rails should be installed with the traditional wedge method plus a slight crimp.


Wedging: Using a hacksaw, a slit is cut 1 1/2 inches up from the base of the rung along its axis. A small metal handle wedge is placed in this slit and inserted in the drilled hole. The rung is forcefully hammered into place. As the rung is hammered, the wedge is driven against the bottom of the hole. This forces the wedge to spread the base of the pin against the sides of the hole, causing friction to hold in the rung or pin. "

Lead wool, similar in appearance to steel wool is tightly packed aorund the pin to prevent water intrusion.

page 215 has diagrams of both procedures

This book (386 pages)is fascinating and there is a companion volume, more historical in nature of the creation of the trails entitled "Pathmakers". They are National Park Service publications and I can't recommend them enough for anyone who makes return visits to Acadia.

 

[BorealChickadee]

Again from the above resource in my previous post.

The Precipice trail was designed by Rudolph Ernest Brunnow (1858-1917) and built in 1915. Brunnow was the Bar Harbor Path Village Improvement Association Committee chairman from 1912 to 1917. He also laid out the Beehive, Champlain Mtn, Great Cove and East Face trails. His trails contained much more ironwork than Dorr's. His summer cottage was "High Seas" north of Schooner Head.

Brunnow credits Andrew Liscomb, the Bar Harbor VIA's Superintendent of Paths for supervising the construction work.

The Precipice Path and Beehive were funded by the Bar Harbor VIA in addition to Brunnow's own funds. They were immediately popular with the iron rungs making it easy to climb the cliffs and the Precipice was referred to as the Alpine Path and the Beehive was also referred to as the Little Precipice Path.

Brunnnow also proposed a rustic teahouse be constructed just below the summit. This was never built.

Once again, these books are an amazing resource.

 

[Raymond]

I guess this means the trail has been reopened after the earthquake damaged it.

 

[Fitz]

Thanks!

Thanks for the information. I will look into the book you cited chickadee.

I can't recall if the Precipice Trail was damaged during the quake. If so, it was re-opened relatively quickly. A linking trail that parallels the contours was damaged by a large slide. The trail is called the Orange and Black Trail and it remains closed. Subsequent rock falls have hampered efforts to re-open the trail. Fall 2009 is the anticipated re-opening date as of now.

The newly exposed rock and the slide caused by the quake are very apparent looking at the face of the mountain.