Maintaining Our Roads�…Why It Matters!
Bluff Creek - January 2006
Six Rivers National Forest
A 48” culvert plugs on an abandoned road
The culvert
Plugs and diverts a small stream.
Approximately ¾ of the �stream flow diverts �down the abandoned road
A new channel incises in the asphalt
Stream diverts
200 ft down
the road
Stream diverts �off road �onto native �hill slope
and down it goes!…
and goes some more….
…gains momentum
….goes over the break in slope and…
…initiates a new landslide.
The landslide is about 3 acres.
This landslide then….
… takes out a recently built road…
… a road investment that is…
irretrievably lost…
…mobilized approximately 200,000 yd3 �and delivered 50 % to Bluff Creek...
…a key watershed with Chinook coho, and steelhead.
Original channel
New diverted channel
The diversion is substantial.
Watershed and Fisheries �staff do emergency handwork �to get the channel �back in place.
Channel before handwork
Channel after handwork
The Cost of No Maintenance
This road was built in 2001 for approximately $750,000
Lack of maintenance on an adjacent, abandoned road destroyed this investment, and,
impacted the resources….
The Future?
With current funding levels these roads receive little to no maintenance and this is not expected to change in the future…
Level 1 and 2 roads are roughly 60% of our total road miles.
Our Future Road System
Without maintenance, culverts will fail…
it’s just a question of when and how badly.
Is this the road system we want?