Challenge
A safe and durable boardwalk section was needed to extend a new multi-use path through a protected wetland area in Glastonbury, CT. The boardwalk required a live load design to account for a 10,000 lb. vehicle (H5 truck). Construction efforts on the boardwalk system needed to minimize disturbance to this environmentally sensitive area. Furthermore, the original boardwalk trail design included challenging horizontal and vertical alignment changes. The Town of Glastonbury needed a product with engineered design flexibility to fit the multi-use path’s original layout.
Solution
Glastonbury’s engineers selected a skid-resistant Sandblast finish to help prevent bike tires from losing their grip on a winding trail design - even in shady, wet areas. Cast-in-place concrete piles were selected from a variety of PermaTrak foundation options.
Connecticut Carpentry capitalized on the boardwalk’s load carrying capacity as they installed the treads using top-down construction, minimizing the impact on the wetlands. Not only was the PermaTrak system engineered to meet the live load requirement, but its design flexibility allowed for the multi-use path alignment to be essentially unchanged from concept to construction. “We are pleased with the overall appearance of the finished product,” said Glastonbury engineer Stephen Braun. “It fits very well with the path.”
