Workers clear flooded roads in Sisters country
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Last updated 2/20/1996 at Noon
"We are identifying safety problems first and working on them now, and will then consider environmental protection and items that are not a threat," said Leonard Wesley, forest road superintendent for the Deschutes National Forest.
"There may be some roads that will remain closed, especially ones that are not needed," he said.
People who discover road or resource damage on the District are asked to report the areas to Ray Horgen, road manager for the Sisters District. He can be reached at 549-7636 or 549-2111.
In assessing last week's work to repair roadbeds and clear culverts, Wesley said, "We are doing pretty well now. The roads will have some bad spots in them but will be passable for a prudent driver."
The cost of road repair on the Sisters District is $250,000, according to Horgen. Once a completed damage inventory is ready, the report will be sent to the regional office requesting additional funding. Horgen estimated 75 percent of the road damage on the district has been tabulated.
"We need the public's help in reporting problems since we don't have enough people to cover the whole district at one time," he said.
As of Friday, February 17, crews have identified 20 major projects, mostly in the Metolius area, requiring heavy maintenance such as unplugging culverts, clearing mud and debris and rebuilding bridge accesses.
The north end of Road 12 was especially hard hit by washouts and culvert failures.
"In the Abbott Creek area, we got a lot of logs and large debris which banked up and wedged inside the culvert," Horgen said. "These blockages ate up the fill, and washed away parts of the road bed."
Crews replaced small culverts with larger pipes.
The whole length of Road 1230, past Jack Creek, up towards Abbott Butte, had lots of surface problems. Practically all the culverts were plugged and water ran down the road, Horgen said. On Friday, February 17, two backhoes made the road temporarily passable.
Horgen emphasized that any roads on which district crews are working are closed.
"We will notify the public whenever normal traffic can resume," he said. "Reopening depends on the weather also. There may another front coming in this week."
Any damage affecting private landowners will be repaired now, Horgen noted. Road 1216, which accesses Camp Sherman, was choked with mud and debris when Davis and Lake Creeks diverted onto the road.
"We went in with backhoes and put the flow back into the original channel," Horgen said.
On road 1234 to Jake Lake, repair crews replaced a large culvert and removed debris along the roadside. The Round Lake Road, 1210, experienced numerous washouts at First Creek taking out a portion of the road for a mile.
A mudslide came down off road 1490, by Candle Creek, went across Road 1499 and into the Metolius River.
The Wizard Falls Bridge is closed until a safety inspection by the State of Oregon is completed.
"A lot of large logs went under the bridge and may have damaged the structure. We don't know as yet," Horgen said. Access to the hatchery is via Bridge 99 and back up the west side of the river.
Timber downed by the slides and flooding will likely remain as it fell unless large patches of downed material are discovered. Dick Cozby, Timber Manager for the Sisters District, Deschutes National Forest, said Friday, February 17, that fallen timber may be salvaged as part of restoration projects and repair of other resource damage.
"If we find something in a concentrated area of 50 to 60 thousand board feet, we could come in and salvage that timber," Cozby said. "We know there are some trees down including some 40 to 50 in the Suttle Lake area in the draws. We are not looking at salvaging it. We will let them sit and provide what they naturally would. Crews would rebuild trails around the downed trees."
The district is still compiling a list of downed timber from aerial photographs, and eyewitness reports.
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