I recently traveled down the Spokin Lake road towards the 108 rd. Now this in it's self is not earth shattering. What has me confused is that this road is maintained by the Horsefly roads group. Again this is not earth shattering. The confusing part is that the road was in reasonably good condition and I would hazard a guess that it was recently graded.
When I arrived at the 108 Rd, it was as if I had driven off a reasonably good road on to a goat track. The 108 Rd from the 2300 road to the Wood Jam road has not seen any sort of grading. It has, however, had some maintenance done on it in the guise of dust control or Calcium applied to it.
Now we have been blessed with a mild winter and little snow. As a result we have not had any wash outs or unusual amounts of moisture which would have caused a rapid deterioration of the road. Never the less, the roads need to be maintained before the rains come it.
If you have been a reader of this blog you will know that my #1 peeve is cattle guards. I will discuss this at a later date. My #2 peeve is "washboard" roads in particular "washboard" roads on the straight stretches. I will discuss this in a later post as well. But, this brings up the grading of the 108 Rd from Woodjam Rd to Louden Rd. It was graded. Now this is one section of road that they actually put some gravel on. What is confusing, there I go again with this confusing stuff, WHY did they not grade out the "washboard". As I have pointed out before, I am not an engineer or road technician, but does it not make common sense that when you are grading a road that you would take out the washboard?
I guess there is no sense of pride in the work you do, or.........
More on this in a later post.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Horsefly Road
If you have been reading my post, you may recall that in July of last year (2009), I wrote about the new paving job. I commented that there was not any prep work done particularly in the bad section near Jessica Lake Road. That's the section that has always been bad for as long as I can recall.
Well guess what? It's back and it is going to be bad. More of our tax dollars thrown away. You may also notice all the lateral cracking going on on the brand new section of road. If you look up on the web, lateral cracking, you will find that it is usually caused be poorly prepared road beds. You probably will recognize that these lateral cracks are showing up in the same place where they were before the resurfacing. I wonder when they will start crack sealing again!
Well guess what? It's back and it is going to be bad. More of our tax dollars thrown away. You may also notice all the lateral cracking going on on the brand new section of road. If you look up on the web, lateral cracking, you will find that it is usually caused be poorly prepared road beds. You probably will recognize that these lateral cracks are showing up in the same place where they were before the resurfacing. I wonder when they will start crack sealing again!
They should be hanged!
I traveled today down the 108 Rd and guess what? It is falling apart as you would expect, in particularly the south part of the North 108. It is always a relief to get on to the 2300 Rd and guess what again: They are actually working on it, smoothing over rough areas and filling in water holes. And this is on SUNDAY and is not the roads construction people, which might be a good thing.
Now I thought that that section was bad! Wait till you try driving on the South 108. It's damn near impassible. I was in 4 wheel drive and considered myself luck to get through to where I was going. And to think that they worked on this road last summer. Oh yes, the same brilliant construction method: Covering the road in 6 to 8" of sand and packing it down. It's amazing how sand liquefies when you add water to it. You should try driving through this S***.
Now I have stated before that I am not a engineer or road construction technician. B U T when I see this type of thing, well I'm lost for words. Although one word keeps coming through "INCOMPETENCE"
And who said that I was running out of things to write about on the state of roads in the Horsefly area.
Now I thought that that section was bad! Wait till you try driving on the South 108. It's damn near impassible. I was in 4 wheel drive and considered myself luck to get through to where I was going. And to think that they worked on this road last summer. Oh yes, the same brilliant construction method: Covering the road in 6 to 8" of sand and packing it down. It's amazing how sand liquefies when you add water to it. You should try driving through this S***.
Now I have stated before that I am not a engineer or road construction technician. B U T when I see this type of thing, well I'm lost for words. Although one word keeps coming through "INCOMPETENCE"
And who said that I was running out of things to write about on the state of roads in the Horsefly area.
Different Strokes
I have spent the last 2 months in the Punchaw area, South West of Prince George, along the Black Water road, or just off of it. Now this is not earth shaking in it's self. What I have learned though, is that there is a different standard as far as road construction and maintenance is concerned between this area, and for that matter the rest of the Province, then that of the Cariboo. If you are a little bit of skeptical about this I suggest that you take a trip in any area outside of the Cariboo.
The Black Water road area, from Prince George to Quesnel, is a well constructed and maintained road. Whereas the roads in the Cariboo are narrow, have not been upgraded to today's standards, and are, to say the least, VERY poorly maintained.
I was staying and working on a ranch on the Punchaw Road. It is not a gazetted road yet the level of maintenance is something we can only dream about in the Horsefly area. The Punchaw road is similar in some respects to the 108 Rd. The main difference is that it was constructed properly, and is maintained to a very high standard even though there is very little traffic on it. In fact it actually has gravel on it. Can you imagine that!
So what I am saying here is that the standards used in the rest of the Province are entirely different then those here. What can be done about it? I am at a loss. In talking to Highways in Williams Lake I and others get absolutely no satisfaction talking to the supervisor of the contractor. Talking to the contract authority in Williams Lake is like talking to the wind. No matter how loud you yell the only response you get is your own voice coming back at you. I am open to any suggestions, radical or others.
The Black Water road area, from Prince George to Quesnel, is a well constructed and maintained road. Whereas the roads in the Cariboo are narrow, have not been upgraded to today's standards, and are, to say the least, VERY poorly maintained.
I was staying and working on a ranch on the Punchaw Road. It is not a gazetted road yet the level of maintenance is something we can only dream about in the Horsefly area. The Punchaw road is similar in some respects to the 108 Rd. The main difference is that it was constructed properly, and is maintained to a very high standard even though there is very little traffic on it. In fact it actually has gravel on it. Can you imagine that!
So what I am saying here is that the standards used in the rest of the Province are entirely different then those here. What can be done about it? I am at a loss. In talking to Highways in Williams Lake I and others get absolutely no satisfaction talking to the supervisor of the contractor. Talking to the contract authority in Williams Lake is like talking to the wind. No matter how loud you yell the only response you get is your own voice coming back at you. I am open to any suggestions, radical or others.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Culverts
It never ceases to amaze me when traveling the roads in the Horsefly area. Recent upgrading of the Walters Lake road is a case in point.
Not being an engineer, I can only give my opinion of the materials used in "rebuilding" the road. This will have to be the topic of an other post, probably this spring.
As I understand it, after they had part of the road reconstructed, the crew from Williams Lake came down with some new culverts and proceeded to dig up the new works and put in the culverts. Makes sense! As I stated above I am not an engineer but when I see culverts installed like this, even I know there will be trouble when the spring run off happens. As a matter of fact with the last melt there was evidence that this was going to happen.
If who ever is in charge of decision making is not sure of what should be done when installing culverts, there is a wealth of information on the web. I suggest that someone should look at it. I believe that this information is also available in the Ministry guide lines as well.
One last culvert shot: Has anyone taken a look at the recently "fixed" culvert at Malcome Creek on the 108 Rd? I will have some pictures of these sites in a later post.
Not being an engineer, I can only give my opinion of the materials used in "rebuilding" the road. This will have to be the topic of an other post, probably this spring.
As I understand it, after they had part of the road reconstructed, the crew from Williams Lake came down with some new culverts and proceeded to dig up the new works and put in the culverts. Makes sense! As I stated above I am not an engineer but when I see culverts installed like this, even I know there will be trouble when the spring run off happens. As a matter of fact with the last melt there was evidence that this was going to happen.
If who ever is in charge of decision making is not sure of what should be done when installing culverts, there is a wealth of information on the web. I suggest that someone should look at it. I believe that this information is also available in the Ministry guide lines as well.
One last culvert shot: Has anyone taken a look at the recently "fixed" culvert at Malcome Creek on the 108 Rd? I will have some pictures of these sites in a later post.
Trip
I am a little behind in my posts. This one took place in November 2009.
In November I again had the opportunity to travel the Blackwater Road between Quesnel and Prince George. This trip again amazes me as to the different standards there are in the level of maintenance and construction of roads through out our province.
The roads I have experienced in the Prince George/Quesnel area are all well constructed, wide and with a surface that can be maintained. And, my favourite, cattle guards are done properly. The approach is graded level with the road.
There was snow on the road, not unfamiliar at this time of year. What surprised me more then anything was, and get this, "every logging truck I approached slowed down and moved over. This left much less of a snow cloud (dust) and improved my safety on the road.
A lesson that could be learned down here.
Drive safely
In November I again had the opportunity to travel the Blackwater Road between Quesnel and Prince George. This trip again amazes me as to the different standards there are in the level of maintenance and construction of roads through out our province.
The roads I have experienced in the Prince George/Quesnel area are all well constructed, wide and with a surface that can be maintained. And, my favourite, cattle guards are done properly. The approach is graded level with the road.
There was snow on the road, not unfamiliar at this time of year. What surprised me more then anything was, and get this, "every logging truck I approached slowed down and moved over. This left much less of a snow cloud (dust) and improved my safety on the road.
A lesson that could be learned down here.
Drive safely
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Blackwater Road
I just got back from a trip on the Blackwater Road out of Prince George. The trip was about 125KMs. The road is gravel. What a delight to drive that road! Most of it is at least twice as wide as the 108 and Bells Lk rds. In my total trip I guess, conservatively, that I did not hit more then 10 metres of washboard. 10 meters as in approximately 30+ feet. And not only that, the approach's to cattle guards was seamless.
Now the question I have is this: If they can construct and maintain a gravel road like that, WHY CAN'T THEY DO THE SAME DOWN HERE. I have some ideas as to why not, but, I will keep them to myself. If you have been following this blog then you probably can guess.
It's a real shame to see our tax money spent this way.
Slow down when driving around the Horsefly area, you my be able to prolong the life of your vehicles.
Now the question I have is this: If they can construct and maintain a gravel road like that, WHY CAN'T THEY DO THE SAME DOWN HERE. I have some ideas as to why not, but, I will keep them to myself. If you have been following this blog then you probably can guess.
It's a real shame to see our tax money spent this way.
Slow down when driving around the Horsefly area, you my be able to prolong the life of your vehicles.
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