Marshall Nordic Ski Trails Marshall Nordic Ski Trails The construction of the Marshall Ski Trail has been an exciting process. During the 5 years that the trail has been in existence it has attracted worldwide attention. Skiers of international caliber have praised the trail for how smoothly it flows, the difficulty of the terrain and the challenge that it offers expert skiers. The only thing that skiers wish for is a longer course. With our planned phase 5 expansion this concern will be handily addressed. Thanks to strong support from the international business community, an accommodating state highway department and generous nearby land owners, the Marshall Trail will be expanded to over 25 kilometers in length! Take a look down the page at our exciting plans! |
The expanded trail will be located on city, county and school board property located to the west of the school across Central Entrance. The main challenge is how to best cross Central Entrance; a busy four lane road. Bridges were considered but rejected due to the steep topography on either side of the road. Thanks to some incredible offers of support, tunneling was deemed to be the best option. The next photo has the tunnel locations marked with hash marks |
 Marshall School is the complex in the foreground. Central High School is located across Central Entrance. |
Dave checking out a conventional tunnel boring machine in use near Boston. Dave is pictured at the head of the machine and in support tunnel at the back of the machine. The cost of transport and slow speed of operation led Dave to explore other options |
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| Through a contact at Krupp of Germany, Dave found a machine capable of removing over 76,455 cubic meters of earth per day. (the equivalent of what over100,000 forty yard dump trucks can carry). This incredible machine will allow us to construct the path for the tunnels in just under 2 hours. After the machine is finished digging the trenches, the tunnels will be constructed from concrete. Snowmaking will be set in place in the ceiling of the tunnels. |
 The Krupp Earth Mover in transit to a nearby harbor for delivery to Duluth |
Transporting the Krupp Earth Mover to Duluth requires specialized equipment. Thanks to a close contact at Dockwise, the Blue Marlin, a heavy lift ship will be used to bring the Krupp Earth Mover to Duluth. Here is a photo of the Blue Marlin transporting an offshore radar rig. |
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| The future for the Marshall Ski Trails looks very bright. With the great support of Krupp, Dockwise and the whole Duluth community, we are poised to become the finest ski trail system in the United States. If you would like to be a part of this exciting project and have skills to offer in the construction of tunnels, indoor snowmaking, or road reconstruction please email your offer of help to Dave at djohnson@marshallschool.org |
Update from Captain Iver Tunnelsted of the Blue Marlin, April 11, 2007
Happy April Fools Day! |