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LVM is Building a Forest Road on a Wooden Log Deck

This summer, it is planned to put into operation the “Muižnieku ceļš” forest road in Balvi District of North Latgale region of JSC “Latvia's State Forests” (LVM). One third of the road has a very low ground bearing capacity, so a deck of wooden logs is being built, which will serve as the foundation for the road.

“A number of LVM forest roads have been built using wooden log decks in conditions of low soil bearing capacity. This horizontal plane design evenly distributes the weight of the road structure and absorbs the dynamic load of the transport. Using the peat obtained at the construction site, the log deck is preserved with a 10 cm thick, dense layer of peat. A road structure is being built above the log deck, which consists of the base of a frost resistant sand cover; a crushed gravel cover is formed on the surface,” says Māris Matisāns, LVM Latgale Region Forest Infrastructure Manager.

The total length of the “Muižnieku ceļš” forest road is 0.94 km, of which a 330 m section has a very low load bearing capacity. The width of the log deck used is 7.20 metres and it is planned to use 317 cubic metres of timber. The works are performed by JSC “Latvijas autoceļu uzturētājs” Rēzekne Road District. The construction works are to be completed by 30 June this year.

The construction of the log cover will be carried out in sections of peat soil, beforehand cutting the trees as close to the ground surface as possible. Logs with a 50 cm overlap of the joint and a 90 cm transverse distance between the logs are laid alternately in the longitudinal direction. The joints of the logs are tied in two places using a steel wire. A log covering is built on longitudinally placed logs. The log cover must be constructed alternately by cutting the end logs in half. The deck logs must be laid close together. The log covering is attached to the base logs using construction nails or steel wire.