Runoff and ice on the MVT

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Viewing 7 posts - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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  • January 12, 2019 at 1:34 am #1093830
    jrenaut
    Participant

    I assumed it’s because the DC area had the most rain in recorded history in 2018 and the ground is just saturated, so if you ride past with a half-full water bottle it overflows. Also remember that the Parkway is surely sloped so that any rain that lands on it is diverted into the grass by the trail because GOD [expletive deleted] FORBID we inconvenience a car commuter

    January 12, 2019 at 9:22 pm #1093909
    consularrider
    Participant

    That area of the MVT south of Memorial Bridge historically gets water seepage most of the year. You just notice it more when it turns to ice. As Jon said 2018 was historically wet, so don’t expect this to dry out before next summer (if there is a drought then).

    February 13, 2019 at 2:29 am #1095567
    DrP
    Participant

    I e-mailed the GWMP about this commenting that it seemed to get bad when the bridge work started (hoping that might be the issue). I received a reply:
    “The water issue seems to connected with high water/rain totals over the last year or so, not necessarily the rehabilitation of Arlington Memorial Bridge. There are a number of factors that contribute to the water seepage your seeing (engineering, landscape, proximity to the river).

    “Over the last year, the previous superintendent tasked me with addressing a number of MVT issues. The park created a program to work with stakeholders, neighbors and local jurisdictions to focus safety issues along the trail. One of the outcomes of that program, called Share Your Trail, was a number meetings, volunteer events and the creation of a non-profit to support successful.

    “I will raise this for that working group as a concern.”

    So, it is a “too much water” issue and we are stuck unless we get a major drought (not a good thing) or they do make changes.

    February 13, 2019 at 4:14 am #1095571
    bentbike33
    Participant

    I have been commuting on the upper MVT for many years, and this is the worst I’ve seen of the water seepage, which makes sense given how relentlessly wet is has been. It won’t take a drought to make it stop, just getting back to normal levels of rainfall for a while. It would be nice if the issue could be addressed when that section of the MVT is ever repaved, which is very badly needed. Maybe there will be some loose change left over from the Memorial Bridge repair that could be used to repave the trails in its vicinity.

    February 13, 2019 at 11:30 pm #1095607
    smb9600
    Participant

    I agree this is the worst I’ve seen since commuting on the MVT. I had also associated it with the construction on the Memorial Bridge, but was told (by a very smart person in the science world [emoji6]) it was due to the extreme amount of rainfall we had last year (remember, we were doing water rescues on the GW parkway last year!)

    So was the non-profit they mention the Friends of the MVT???

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    February 14, 2019 at 3:13 am #1095622
    zsionakides
    Participant

    @smb9600 187382 wrote:

    I agree this is the worst I’ve seen since commuting on the MVT. I had also associated it with the construction on the Memorial Bridge, but was told (by a very smart person in the science world [emoji6]) it was due to the extreme amount of rainfall we had last year (remember, we were doing water rescues on the GW parkway last year!)

    So was the non-profit they mention the Friends of the MVT???

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    My thought is that the water in that spot is pooling in the soil and not draining into the river. It would probably take a pretty sizeable re-grading of the overall soil in that area to fix this issue, and I agree it’s getting worse. The trail could potentially be re-routed higher up the hill near the parkway, but that may only be a temporary fix.

    February 14, 2019 at 12:15 pm #1095629
    Judd
    Participant

    @smb9600 187382 wrote:

    So was the non-profit they mention the Friends of the MVT???

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    That is indeed the FOMVT although we have not incorporated and formed a nonprofit quite yet.

    I haven’t had the opportunity to thoroughly walk the area. Just in passing it appears that there’s both a grading issue as well as some seepage from the amount of rain.

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