Mountain Bike Trail Repair

Location: Central Ohio

Project Type: Recreation

Application: Bike Trail

Product Used: GEOTEX Nonwoven

The Central Ohio Mountain Biking Organization (COMBO) is a not-for-profit organization that works to provide quality mountain biking opportunities in Central Ohio by building and maintaining trails. In May 2020, the group was experiencing exponential rise in trail usage, which was causing accelerated wear on the trails. Increased use and heavy rainfall created a number of drainage issues that needed to be addressed quickly.

COMBO had previously used a GEOTEX® nonwoven geotextile to fix areas of the trail with similar issues and had great success. The group reached out to Propex and selected GEOTEX Nonwoven 601.

High flow rates and small openings make nonwoven geotextiles ideal for filter fabrics used in subsurface drainage applications. Their 3-D structure easily allows significant amounts of air and water to pass through the fabric while restricting soil particles. Nonwoven geotextiles have the highest permittivity and water flow rate, up to 25 times the flow rate of woven geotextile.

COMBO volunteers easily installed the nonwoven at various locations throughout the trails. After installation, the volunteer leader reported that the material was holding up perfectly and prevented the need for more time consuming and costly alteration to the trails. Mollie Berberich, Vice President for COMBO, said “It’s an incredible material and has been super helpful to our trail crew.”