Signposts for Snow Trails
Temporary Bases
What should you do in situations where there isn't enough snow to support a freestanding sign, but you don't really want a permanent signpost?
One option is to use a permanent signpost anyway. You can always remove or cover the sign during the off season, or install a hinged sign that can be folded over when it is not being used.
Another option is to remove the signposts seasonally. MTDC looked at several techniques for temporarily mounting a signpost.
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Square Plastic Signposts Supported by Steel Rods
Kirk Metzger on the Sisters Ranger District, Deschutes National Forest, experimented with 10-foot (3-m) long, 3-inch (76-mm) square plastic downspouts placed over steel index rods.
He drove a 6-foot (1.8-m) fence post, scrap pipe, or 2-inch (51-mm) diameter electrical metal conduit into the ground with a post driver. The metal pipe supported the signpost when the snowpack was shallow.
He attached a sign to a 10-foot (3-m) long, 3-inch (76-mm)-square section of plastic downspout and slid the downspout over the index rod. The plastic downspout could be raised as the snow got deeper.
Kirk found that the plastic gutters are not very strong and they shatter in high wind and extreme cold. Stronger square tubular materials, like 4- by 4-inch (100- by 100-mm) PVC fence posts or round PVC pipe would work better.
Buried Steel Brackets
Square tubular steel signposts can be mounted on a bracket driven into the ground. When the steel signpost is removed, the mounting frame is only a few inches off the ground. The signpost can be removed in the spring and reinstalled in the fall. This assumes that you can find the mounting bracket in the spring, and that you install the signpost before it is covered with snow and ice each fall. Such a signpost is best suited for plowed parking lots and junctions where it will be easy to find.
The Crescent Ranger District on the Deschutes National Forest drives 4-foot-(1.2-m)-long pieces of 4- by 4-inch (100- by 100-mm) steel tubing into the ground, leaving 6 to 8 inches (150 to 200 mm) exposed. All but 18 inches (450 mm) of the tube is filled with gravel for drainage. Wooden signposts (4 inches by 4 inches) are placed in the buried tubing during the winter and removed in summer. The tubing needs to be covered with a metal cap or duct tape during the off season to keep it from filling with dirt.
Portable Mounts
One District mounts its signs on 10-foot (3-m), 4- by 4-inch (100- by 100-mm) posts with cross braces at the bottom, and sometimes uses sandbags for extra support in windy areas.
They are set in 2 feet (610 mm) of snow initially. When they need to be raised, volunteers dig them out, presumably bases and all, and reset them.
Another portable sign mounting base was developed by Gary Weigel when he worked on the Shoshone National Forest. These steel bases (Figure 15) are relatively easy to fabricate and can be customized to fit the type and size of signpost you are using. They can be pinned to the ground for better support.
Figure 15-Gary Weigel designed this portable base. It is easily fabricated and can
be customized to fit round or square posts. This base was used for MTDC's telescoping PVC
signpost system (on top), and also for the square tubular steel and Extren signpost (on bottom).
The signposts can be permanently attached to the base or left unbolted so that the posts can be pulled out to raise the sign. The signpost may freeze to the base, making it immovable.
The bases need to be removed in the spring after the ground has thawed. Locating and transporting the heavy bases after all the snow had melted created enough extra work that one District discontinued using them.
