IMPACTS OF HIGH-INTENSITY RAINSTORMS ON LOW-VOLUME ROADS AND ADJACENT LAND

One of the most severe tests a road receives is a high- intensity rainstorm. The Siskiyou mountain range of the Rogue River National Forest has received several such storms in the past decade. The most recent of these storms occurred during January 1974, resulting in over $8 million of damage to low-volume, mostly single-lane roads. This paper describes the kinds of road failures that occurred through narrative, sketches, and photographs. The interrelationship between the road and the adjacent land is often not fully considered by the land manager or the road engineer. Poor land management practices, especially in mountainous terrain, place extreme burdens on the road's drainage facilities. Roads, on the other hand, tend to concentrate water, cause surface erosion, and upset slope stability. Land and road failures on the upper portions of a watershed often cause damage to the land, roads, and other facilities located in the lower basin. There are numerous commonly used techniques in road construction to minimize storm damage to roads and the land. This paper describes some of the least expensive methods that should be used more frequently on low-volume roads.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0360859X
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Proceedings of a work shop held June 16-19, 1975, in Boise, Idaho by the Transportation Research Board.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board (TRB)

  Washington, DC   
• Authors:
  • Dittmer, Melvin
  • Johnson, Allan A
• Publication Date: 1975

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures;
• Pagination: pp 82-91
• Monograph Title: Low-volume roads: proceedings of a workshop held June 16-19, 1975, in Boise, Idaho
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Board Special Report
  • Issue Number: 160
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0360-859X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Construction management; Drainage structures; Low volume roads; Mixing; Rain; Road construction; Storms
• Old TRIS Terms: Drainage systems; Mixing efficiency
• Subject Areas: Construction; Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00142696
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 1 1977 12:00AM