Why do we need a javelin?

On the 5th of October it was the pleasure of the Path Skills team to work with the fantastic group from Forth Valley College (FVC) again.

The group remained keen throughout the day and and enjoyed going out to survey the path they will be working on this Friday.

The day started with an introduction on how to use path surveying equipment and how to measure the length, width and gradient of a path. The indoor session also covered the techniques used to build a path and how different layers are constructed to give the path a strong construction and a long life time. This session also required the group to construct what they had just learned from Lego bricks (trust me, it is a lot harder than it looks).

In the afternoon everyone in the group got a chance to use the equipment needed to do a survey of the path. The equipment the group used included ranging poles (the javelin), clinometer gun, trundle wheels and spirit levels. After checking the length, width and gradient of the path, the group then took their sketch of the path, drew it up on a larger scale and presented their survey drawing to the class. This was an excellent exercise as the group not only highlighted some of the potential hazards of the path, which they had been learning about in the morning, but also gave suggestions for further improvements which could be done as a future project.

The group also conducted a community survey to find out more about the opinions of visitors to Muiravonside. The information gathered also highlighted some improvements that visitors had suggested and the students of FVC also suggested some of their own. This information will be valuable to Simon the countryside ranger who is always working on new ways to improve the visitor experience at the park.

The group expressed that they were very keen to get started on the practical work that this project requires. They will be assisted by the excellent Technical Officer and Development Officer from the Active Environments team. Given the energy and commitment the group has shown already the path will be look fantastic when it is completed.

The Psycho Paths produced a blog to describe how much they enjoyed the day and who they are looking forward to starting the practical work:

‘Today we learned to use survey tools to survey our path. We used the trundle wheel and tape measure to check the length and how wide the path was at different bits as the path wasn’t the same width all the way up. We also used the ‘javelins’ with the clinometer gun to find out the gradient. While we carried out the path survey, Kayleigh went away and got the opinions of people in the park about what they thought about the paths and what could be improved and she presented her findings to the group.

We have learned to use survey tools, how to build a path and what materials we will need to use. We have also learned how to budget for a project. This means we can start work on the path next week’