Olympic National Forest Making Progress Opening Ma
Incident: Storm07 - Wa - Olf - 0002 Flood
Released: 12/20/2007
Olympia, Wash., -- For more than two weeks, Forest Service crews been clearing, repairing and opening roads wracked by Storm07 throughout the Olympic National Forest ... finding more and more landslides or washouts as they progress along major travel routes. The early December storm left hundreds of miles of roads and trails inaccessible and damaged major campgrounds, administrative sites, bridges and special use facilities throughout the national forest.
After making emergency repairs and clearing debris from the first 11 miles of Forest Road 25 near Hoodsport, Wash., Hood Canal District crews found a massive landslide - several thousand cubic yards - that covered the road with as much as 15 feet of debris. The damaged and clogged culvert and debris over the road will take weeks, if not months to repair.
As the crews fix what roads and bridges they can throughout the national forest, they are confronting more and more storm damage. Much of the emergency repair work they are doing now is temporary and the roads will have to wait until spring for needed culverts, fill, riprap or for the large earth-moving equipment needed to move large amounts of debris from the road surfaces.
According to Art Gibson, Road Maintenance Engineer for the Olympic National Forest reports that snow is adding to the difficulties crews are having as they assess storm damage. "The snow level is low and most of the roads have compact snow and ice," Gibson said. "It is impossible to see washouts and estimate the amount of debris over roads when it is buried by two feet of snow and the snow is preventing crews from accessing roads above 2000 feet in elevation," he said.
Gibson has one contractor with crews opening culverts and installing culverts due to landslides in the Hamma Hamma area (Road 25), and replacing washed riprap at bridge abutments on the Hamma Hamma Bridge and the Jefferson Creek Bridge over the 2480 Road.
According to Gibson, crews are working one site at a time as weather conditions permit. He also said the storm's wind and rain affected different parts of the national forest with varying intensities. "The area around Hoodsport, Shelton and Lake Wynooche areas (southeast side of the Olympic Peninsula) were particularly hard hit," he said, "while the Quilcene area (northeast side) does not have as much road damage."
Meanwhile, on the west side of the national forest, most of the collector four-digit numbered roads have been cleared of debris and are open to traffic. Many of the less traveled spur roads suitable for high clearance vehicles are still closed.
Chuck McDonnell, engineering technician overseeing emergency road repairs throughout the Pacific Ranger District says trees overhanging roads are still a problem, but the most heavily-traveled portions of major roads are open and the cleared-lane widths are good.
"It is very patchy out there, as 80 percent of a road may be pretty good but then you'll hit a patch of blow down from a vulnerable stand of timber that was more exposed to wind," McDonnell said. "The Quinault Ridge and lower West and East Fork Humptulips areas got hit hardest by wind, whereas the area north of Lake Quinault experienced a windstorm that is more typical of those that occur this time of year," he said.
According to McDonnell, Forest Service and contract crews in the Pacific Ranger District are focusing on emergency repairs on Forest Roads 2140 and 2190
McDonnell said the good news is that the public can drive on the major roads throughout his district where emergency repairs have been made. "The bad news is the A-Line Road (Forest Road 29) is closed by a large washout at Mile 19 and will be closed at least until next fall and maybe longer," he said.
Olympic National Forest representatives say they are still accessing storm damages to determine the costs of emergency and long-term recovery efforts, and they hope to have a better estimate by the mid-January, weather permitting.
END
LIST of Open/Closed Roads - Pacific Ranger District
Rd Number
Status
21
open
2120
open
2140
open to 4.0
2140200
closed
2160
open
2160100
open
2160080
open
2180
open
2190
open
2190200
open
22
open
2200020
closed
2203
open
2204
open
2206
open
2208
open
2210
open
2220
open
2258
open
2258031
open
2258040
open
2259
open
2259040
open
2259042
open
2273
open
2280
partially
2281
closed between Mp 0.2 -4.7
29
partially
2900070
open
2902
open
2903
open
2918
partially
2922
partially
2923
open
2923060
open
2929070
open
2931
partially
2932
partially
30
open
3040
partially
3040595
closed
3068
open
