What else - roads

Hello all ... been away so have not had much chance to rant on the roads around Horsefly lately. Just returned from a trip to Alberta and guess what I did. Yes you guessed it right. Went looking for some gravel roads to do a comparison. Well as you may have suspected there is no comparison. As a matter of fact our roads look like goat trails. Talking to some road smarts people, you can't fix, repair or maintain gravel roads with out proper basic construction. After travelling there roads the condition of our roads is understandable. Be perfectly clear, I said understandable, not acceptable.

While away I see parts of 108 have been graded. Thank goodness they did not pull all the graval and other stuff out of the ditch like they did on other roads around Horsefly area. I also noted that the Bell's Lake rd has been graded. It went from a single lane road back to a 2 lane road with lots of big rocks to dodge. The condition is deteriorating rapidly so we should be back to our single lane road soon.

As I get out and about again I will report on other roads in the area. If anyone wants to comment on their roads please do so.

All for now and happy weaving.

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!!!!!!!!

Guess what? They finally got around to grading the 108 Road from Marker 24 to 14 or 15. Although the washboard is still there, and some of the pot holes are partially filled, it certainly is an improvement. I must qualify the improvement statement. Now we have to dodge the boulders but that still is an improvement. I might add that I have had to take my car in for a wheel balance. And in all fairness I have to say that if you have nothing to work with it makes the job some what more challenging. The challenge of course is a gradermen that knows how to handle this type of situation.

Now that I said that, of course it has rained. Wellll when you grade up all the mud and silt in the ditches, you can imagine what the road condition is going to be like. Like I said in the title "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!". Here are a few photo's :





















































From what I hear similar conditions are being experienced on Mitchell Bay Rd. and the "Z" road.

I think this is going to be an interesting and challenging summer.

If you have any comments you know what you can do. At least here you can have your say.

Is a job worth doing well?

I know that this is off topic but I felt that this should be put out in the public domain. It seems that no one is willing to do anything about it.

During the winter of 2006, a logging contractor began removing bug kill behind the grazing license of Meadowbrook Ranch, located at 2080 108 Rd. Horsefly. To describe the logging practices of the logging contractor as totally unacceptable, would be an understatement. They knocked down the bug kill, but they only removed tree s that had some value and left everything else on the ground. They also knocked down and left most of the deciduous trees. 50 acres of the clearing was in a grazing license which is virtually unusable now. An equal amount was located on range land which for the most part is unusable as well.

As I understand it, crown land is intended for multiple purposes. For logging to be carried out in the manner it has here, any other use is no longer possible. Not only is there a terrible mess, the potential for a catastrophic fire is very likely given the right conditions. It is not if but rather when!

The next 2 images are what the area looked like prior to logging

Now take a look at what it looks like now!

A man made blow down.

We realize that roads need to be put in, but, when you are finished it would seem ecologically prudent and responsible to put things back. This is a grazing license! How are cows and calf's going to get over and around this?

Think you can get through this? What do you think a lightning strike would do?

What can I say!

In the winter of 2007 the contractor, an assumption on my part, returned to burn large piles of cut trees. It is interesting that only these piles were burned and there was no attempt to clean up and burn the rest of the debris.

Who is to blame? The contractor? This mess certainly shows a total lack of pride in the work they do. The government? Haven't heard hide nor hair of them. Who is in charge? Who is ensuring that the regulations are being followed? Is there any one in charge?

Your comments are welcome.

A double standard

It has been noticed recently that maintenance crews have been cleaning the bridge over the Horsefly River at Horsefly. The crews have been sweeping the sand and grit off of the bridge surface directly into the river. When logging crews are doing the same they must put up a barrier to prevent any sweeping from falling into the river. Does anyone have an explanation?

Cattle Guards

A few post back I talked about my discussions with the Ministry and the old problem of cattle guards. I was told that it would be taken up with the contractor. Well if it was I'm sure that no one was listening. Last week I was on the 108 Road and took a couple of shots.




This shot is the cattle guard at 108 Road and Walters Lake Road. Now the arrows point out some spots that may not look significant, but believe me if you don't slow right down you will get a very good jolt.



This cattle guard is just a little ways down 108 from the above picture. Again these holes are suspension altering holes if you don't slow down to less then 5kms.

The only cattle guard in the Horsefly area I have seen constructed properly is on the Black Creek Road. It has paved approaches. You do not see the problems on this one.

You will also notice that the above picture has matter right into the guard. With the up and coming cattle range date fast approaching the local ranchers are going to have to get out and clean these guards out.

Well what can we do about this? If you have any answers to this perplexing question, lets hear it.

Until the next rant ....

Bells Lake Road

Well it's that time of year again, water every where. It does not look like much but when you hit it, you know that you have. You will notice the warning signs. This picture was taken approximately 2 weeks after the start of the flooding?




Then along came the roads folks and look what they did!




Signs did go up but take a look at the size of the rocks they used for fill?????







I guess that is is better then taking your chances on driving through water(?). The size of these rocks can cause alot of damage to front end of any vehicle.

Rummer has it that 108 Rd has been graded .... we will see

Washboard roads

Here is an interesting article I found. Sound familiar?

While driving Alaska's graveled highways, countless people have no doubt wondered how an unpaved road surface turns into a bouncing bed of corduroy.

Keith Mather, former director of the Geophysical Institute and UAF vice chancellor for research, wondered the same thing, and in 1963 he published a paper on a subject near and dear to many Alaskans' shock absorbers--the formation of washboard roads.

Mather, who was studying nuclear physics in Australia in the early 1960s, wasn't satisfied with the theories of the time: that washboard roads were caused by "peculiar" soil, wind from passing vehicles, car exhaust, or impulses from car engines. He doubted all these possible causes because he noticed that many different surfaces, such as train tracks and ski trails, also can be afflicted with tiny roller coaster patterns.

Mather set up an inexpensive experiment at his lab in Melbourne. He assembled a contraption in which a tire connected to a central arm moved in a circle like the second hand moves on a clock. He covered the floor with sand and sent the wheel, which was about the size of a lawnmower roller, circling around the track.

He described the homespun project in his article: "We moved the wheel around the track by putting a finger behind the shaft and pushing it around the (track) to the beat of the family metronome. Greatly to my surprise this produced fairly regular little corrugations several inches apart in the sand." Mather found that washboard roads developed not only in sand, but also on "roads" of rice grains, sugar, and split peas. The key, he found, was that the surface was dry, as Alaska roads often are in the spring.

The faster he spun the wheel, the faster washboard appeared. With repeated passes of the wheel, he watched the road ripples multiply like snowshoe hares.

He noticed several keys to the formation of washboard roads: the road surface had to be non-rigid; the road had to be dry; and washboard tends to form just beyond an irregularity in the road surface, such as a bump, dip or small rock.

Bumps in the road surface cause the tire to hop in the air. When the tire crashes down, it forms valleys by spraying sand and gravel forward and sideways. The moving tire ramps out of the valley and hops again. Thus, the washboarding process repeats itself.

The washboard design spreads across the road when other cars repeat the action of the car that initiated it. Mather pointed out that bumps cause cars to react in the same way even though vehicles come in different weights and sizes, and with various suspension systems. He concluded, sadly, that other than slowing to about 5 miles per hour or using balloon tires to cushion the road, there isn't much drivers can do to prevent washboard roads from forming. Mather, who is now 74, retired, and living in Eugene, Oregon, said he still has heard of no solution.

At least for the time being, it looks like corrugated road surfaces will remain a literal pain in the neck, particularly in many developing countries, where major highways feature hundreds of miles of milkshake motorways.

Mather did note that some people, particularly Alaskans, view washboard roads with a certain amount of affection, however. He wrote that the bumpy stretches often are seen as "a welcome assurance of privacy in the outer reaches of suburbia."

And he did reflect with satisfaction on his study. He answered a question of worldwide significance with practical research--the total cost of his experimental equipment was $25.

Hmmmm