On continuous flights of steps, or flights where landings and turns must be very accurate, work can proceed only from the bottom upwards, or where access requires it, from the top downwards. Usually, flights are divided by ramps and so separate groups can work on the different flights.

The job can be divided as follows:

Stone steps

  1. Gathering stone from nearby the site, or transporting supplied stone.
  2. Excavating trench and fitting risers.
  3. Pitching or surfacing treads.
  4. Constructing drains.
  5. Restoring slope adjacent to steps with boulders, backfill or turves.

Wooden steps

  1. Carrying materials, including surfacing.
  2. Fitting the risers and knocking in the stobs.
  3. Cutting drains as necessary.
  4. Weathering the top of the stob and treating with creosote. Roughening or fixing chicken wire to log steps, as necessary.
  5. Backfilling and surfacing the tread.
  6. Restoring slope adjacent to steps with soil and turves.

Chapters