Attachment 7. Wet Weather - Winter Operation Standards.pdf

Fox Ridge Road Repairs

Contract Number ____________

WET WEATHER/WINTER OPERATION STANDARDS

(Revised 5/9/2020)

The contractor is authorized to use existing National Forest roads when such use will not cause damage to the roads or National Forest resources and when travel can be done safely. If requirements of these operating standards are met operations may be conducted outside Normal Operating Season.

The Normal Operating Season (NOS) is May 15th to October 15th. The wet weather/winter season normally begins October 16th and ends around May 14st. The Forest Service will monitor ground conditions and make a determination when the wet weather/winter season has started and has ended.

Contract operations may be conducted outside the Normal Operating Season however, certain Wet Weather Operation requirements must be met in order to have operations proceed during the period outside of the NOS. Wet Weather/Winter Operation Standards (WWOps) must be reviewed by the Forest Service representatives and the Contractor prior to commencing operations, and again before subsequent operational periods.

This document is designed to clarify WWOps and to facilitate consistent implementation across the Six Rivers National Forest (including the Ukonom District of the Klamath National Forest).

The following standards outline the specific WWOps criteria that will be used to determine when operations may begin, what monitoring is required during operations, and when operations should be suspended. These standards provide for additional measures that are needed to protect the transportation system, maintain water quality, and preserve the soil resource. If measures beyond these standards are necessary, they must be agreed upon by all parties and documented in writing.

These criteria also apply within the NOS when prolonged periods of wet weather are encountered.

A. GENERAL STANDARDS

The Contractor or their representative shall notify the Forest Service 2 days before any operations begin on the Project Area. The Forest Service Representative (FSR) will document start-up and shutdown of wet weather/winter operations. The Contractor’s operations shall be conducted reasonably to minimize soil erosion. Equipment shall not be operated when ground conditions are such that an immediate threat of damage to National Forest resources will occur (such as excessive soil compaction and soil displacement. The Contractor’s operations will be suspended by delegated Forest Service personnel if monitoring reveals an immediate threat of damage to National Forest resources.

The operation shall be continually monitored by the Contractor and the Forest Service, including: contract administration personnel, Contractor representatives, and resource specialists. Conditions may change as operations progress during the wet season. If detrimental effects to the transportation system, water quality, or soil resources are encountered by either party, immediate notification by either the Contractor or Forest Service shall occur. The Contractor and Forest Service will work together to develop actions necessary to alleviate these effects. All actions will be approved by the Forest Service.

1. No sediment flow into natural drainages resulting from Contractor Operations (including roads, landings, skidding/yarding) will be permitted at any time. Placement of straw bales or other sediment-catching devices at the outlet of erosion control structures may be needed to control sediment discharge.

The terms “ruts” and “rills” are used to describe road or landing degradation. These terms are described as:

Ruts – sunken tracks or grooves left by the passage of vehicles and expressed as vertically and/or laterally displaced road material

Rills – depressions in the surface caused by the washing away of material by running water

B. ROADS

1. ALL ROADS

Roads must be determined to be suited for wet weather use. Factors to consider include:

surface and subsurface material, soil type, drainage condition, stream crossings, safety hazards, and volume of traffic. If the roadway can be used safely and can support vehicles without causing unacceptable damage to the road surface, soil displacement, damage to drainage structures, and with no off-site sediment movement due to water flow, it can be used. If not, the road will remain closed.

Wet Conditions

a. Required road work for contract activities must be accomplished prior to the wet season. If placement of an aggregate surface is required for wet weather use it shall be accomplished before the surface becomes saturated.

b. Areas within riparian zones where soil has been disturbed by project activities must be stabilized prior to close of business after October 15th, or if the National Weather Service forecast is a “chance” (30% or more) of rain within the next 24 hours, or at the conclusion of operations, whichever is sooner. Drainage structures must be in place and functioning prior to precipitation events.

c. Roads constructed by the contractor through riparian reserves shall be constructed to prevent the stream from flowing onto the road.

d. Roads damaged by Contractor’s operations during the wet season shall be repaired at the

Contractor’s expense. Repair work shall be accomplished when the Forest Service determines that conditions are such that additional damage to the resources will not occur.

e. The Forest Service will complete a condition survey prior to and after wet season use to determine the extent of the damage, if any. The Forest Service will provide the Contractor with a description of the work to be performed. The Contractor shall have the option of 1) repairing the damaged areas to Forest Service specifications, or 2) pay the Forest Service to repair the damage through a service contract.

f. During the wet season the Contractor may be required to perform additional routine maintenance as required for the safe and efficient use of the road, e.g., slide removal, culvert and ditch cleaning, and rock blading. Maintenance requirements will be determined by the Forest Service.

g. The Forest Service shall determine when the deposits should be increased based on the condition of the subgrade. Surface Replacement Deposits will be TRIPLED for all use during the wet weather/winter season outside the Normal Operating Season.

Snow and Frozen Conditions

h. Snow plowing may be approved by the Forest Service if the action will not cause damage to the road surface or associated drainage structures. During winter operations a minimum of 6 inches of snow will remain on the road surface after plowing. This will facilitate freezing of the road surface during early and mid-winter. To facilitate drying of the road surface and subgrade, normally in the spring, roads can be plowed to within 3 inches of the road surface.

Roads will be plowed full width.

1. Areas for disposal of excess snow will be agreed upon prior to snowfall to ensure that side-casted snow is not deposited in drainages.

2. Caution should be taken to prevent displacing the road surface. No soil or aggregate will be intermixed with the side-casted snow.

3. Snow berms will be breached to allow proper road drainage. These outlets shall be spaced to prevent concentrated road surface flows (usually spaced a minimum of every 300 feet). Erosion control structures (straw bales or filter fence) may be required at the outlets to collect road generated sediment.

4. When directed by the Forest Service, road alignments requiring snow removal will be marked on both sides along the entire alignment to facilitate plowing.

5. If the road surface freezes, the road surface segments must remain completely frozen and must be able to support the weight of any vehicle that will be driven on it. If the road thaws, see below...

6. When any part of the active road length thaws and mitigations, such as rocking, cannot be implemented to ensure water quality protection, the road will not be used. This will preclude the use of the road by all vehicles (including administrative) unless the activity can be restricted to that portion of the road that remains frozen.

2. NATIVE OR AGGREGATE SURFACE

Roads requiring special restrictions will be listed in the contract Schedule of Operations.

a. The road shall be properly graded and ditched. Grading shall not occur after the road surface becomes saturated.

b. Sediment shall not be allowed to extend more than 20 feet from the outlet of a drive-able drainage dip or lead-off ditch. Placement of straw bales or other sediment-catching devices at the outlets of constructed drainages may be necessary to control sediment discharge.

c. If more than 10 percent of the road length is rutted 2 inches in depth or greater, the

Forest Service may direct that the road be closed. (Percentage will be determined in one mile increments if road is longer than one mile.) If the road is closed, the Contractor shall barricade and sign the road to keep out all vehicular traffic. The type of barricade shall be determined by the Forest Service. Signing shall meet MUTCD standards.

d. Portions of roads that lie within riparian reserves shall be rocked and locations where road rocking is required to harden the road surface for wet weather use will be designated in writing and flagged on-the-ground by the Forest Service. The minimum depth of rock will be established by the Forest Service. Road use shall not occur on the rocked surface until inspected and approved by the Forest Service.

e. Where a native-surfaced road meets a paved road, the road must be rocked to a depth of 3 inches for a minimum of 300 feet to prevent tracking of mud onto the paved road.

If, after rocking, mud is still being tracked onto the paved road, the wheels of the Contractor’s vehicles may either be washed before entering the paved road or the pavement would be washed free of soil at the end of each operating day or at a more often frequency determined by the FSR/ER to maintain a safe operational condition of the road.

C. PROJECT OPERATIONS

Contractor’s operations will be suspended by delegated Forest Service personnel if monitoring reveals an immediate threat of damage to National Forest resources (such as excessive soil compaction and soil displacement).

a. After October 15th erosion prevention and control work shall be done as promptly as practicable.

Drainage structures are very difficult to construct when landings and roads are wet or have snow on them. Erosion structures MUST be in place and functioning prior to precipitation events (greater than 30% chance of rain).

1. No operations shall occur during measurable precipitation events or when any of the top

4 inches of soil is moist or wet. (Refer Attachment 1 - Field guide for soil moisture)

2. Restricted operations, as defined below, may occur when the top 4 inches of soil is dry throughout, but the soil is moist or wet below. (Refer to the soil moisture field guide)

REVIEWED BY:

Forest Service Representative Contractor’s Representative

Date Date

Attachment 1

Figure 1 –Instructions for determining soil texture in the field

Steps to determine if soil is dry enough for contract operations

1. Dig a small pit and sample 4 to 6 inches below the mineral soil surface (below the surface litter).

2. To determine soil textures refer to Figure 1 for step by step instructions.

3. Collect enough soil to form a 1 to 2 inch ball by molding with hand pressure. Pick out excessive rock fragments & squeeze with 6 directional squeezes.

4. If a ball is formed that holds together after repeated tosses (1-2 feet in the air) then the soil is too wet for equipment operations.

5. Interpret results of soil texture using Field Guide to Soil Moisture Conditions

Relative to Operability of Contract Equipment shown below in Figure 2.

Field Guide to Soil Moisture Conditions Relative to Operability of Heavy Equipment

(Soil Textural Group and Moisture Conditions) Soil Moisture

(% increases downward)

Coarse Soils (coarse sand, loamy sand, fine sand , very fine sand)

Light Soils (sandy loam, fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam)

Medium Soils < 35% clay

(loam, silt loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam)

Heavy Soils > 35 % clay

(heavy clay loam, silty clay loam, sandy clay silty clay, clay)

Dry Soils Dry, loose, single grained, flows thru fingers

Dry, loose, flows thru fingers

Powdery, dry, sometimes slightly crusted but breaks down into powdery conditions

Hard, baked, cracked, sometimes has loose crumbs on surface

Slightly Moist Soils

Still appears dry, will not form a ball with pressure

Still appears to be dry, will not form a ball.

Somewhat crumbly, but will hold together from pressure. Ball breaks under repeated tossing.

Somewhat pliable, will form ball under pressure, not break upon tossing.

Moist Soils Still appears dry, will not form a ball with pressure.

Tends to ball under pressure. Ball breaks under tossing.

Forms a ball, is very pliable, and will not break upon tossing At Plastic Limit.

Easily ribbons out between fingers, has a sticky feeling. > Plastic Limit.

Very Moist Soils Tends to stick together slightly, sometimes forms a very weak ball. Breaks upon tossing.

Forms a weak ball, holds up upon tossing, will not slick. At Plastic Limit.

Forms a ball, is very pliable, and slicks readily if high in clay. > Plastic Limit.

Easily ribbons out between fingers, has a sticky feeling. > Plastic Limit.

Wet Soils Upon squeezing, free water may appear. Wet outline is left on hand. Not plastic.

Upon squeezing, free water may appear. Wet outline is left on hand.

Can squeeze out free water.

Wet outline and sticky.

Puddles and free water forms on surface. Sticky with wet outline.

Figure 2 – Soil Moisture Field Guide.

If current soil conditions are above solid black line and equipment exerts less than 6 psi then it is safe to operate.

If current soil conditions are above double black line and equipment exerts more than 6 psi then it is safe to operate.

When soil conditions fall below the solid black line it is unsafe regardless of type of equipment to be used.

Plastic limit is the water content in the soil at the point of a solid and semisoild state where soil begins to puddle.

Slick is the describer that denotes the amount of clay in the soil that creates a slippery feeling.

Use with care as this guide may not be appropriate for all conditions given the high variability in soils, topography and climate.

Field Guide Developed by Brad Rust: Forest Soil Scientist, Shasta Trinity National Forest (brust@fs.fed.us).

mailto:brust@fs.fed.us