Congressman Tom McClintock Tours Eleven Pines Road – “AFTER THE FIRE TOUR”
In a MCWRA hosted tour coined, “After the Fire” tour, Congressman Tom McClintock recently met with El Dorado Forest Supervisor Laurence Crabtree and others to view the damage of Eleven Pines Road from past rains as a result damage caused by the King Fire. The King Fire was an arson caused wildfire that scorched over 97,000 acres of land in El Dorado County in the fall of 2014.
Left: Kim Pruett, Senior Field Representative, for Congressman Tom McClintock, December, 2017
June, 2018
Eleven Pines Road is located in the most severely burned portion of the King Fire where tree mortality was almost 100%. The 2017 storm damage to Eleven Pines Road was a result of one of the wettest winters in California history occurring in combination with intensely burned, water-repellent soils and a lack of stabilizing vegetation and ground cover after the 2014 King Fire. Hundreds of fire killed hazard trees along the road had to be removed before road reconstruction could begin.
Congressman Tom McClintock listening to construction crew challenges
El Dorado National Forest Supervisor Laurence Crabtree and Congressman Tom McClintock discussing repairs and costs of Eleven Pines Road off of Wentworth Springs Rd out of Georgetown, CA.
News Release
U.S. Forest Service, Eldorado National Forest
100 Forni Road, Placerville, CA 95667 , 530-622-5061
Media Contact: Jennifer Chapman, (530) 957-9660, jenniferachapman@fs.fed.us,
Storm damage repairs on Eleven Pines Road, Eldorado National Forest – USFS photo / Vance Warren
Repairs on Eleven Pines Road will strengthen a primary route in the Eldorado National Forest
PLACERVILLE, Calif. – Work is continuing on Eleven Pines Road in the Eldorado National Forest to repair damage at 13 sites caused by severe winter storms early in 2017. Two of the sites were damaged further by additional landslides that resulted from the storms we had this spring.The repairs that are being done now will reconstruct the road to current standards which will be stronger than the original construction.
“It’s far more resilient than what was out there before,” said Forest Engineer Vance Warren about the new roadbed on Eleven Pines Road. “Now we have reinforced soil slopes,” he explained.
The addition of large drainage rock at the base of the roadbed will allow water to flow beneath the surface without breaking up the hillside. There is also a layer of construction netting called “geogrid” inserted between every 8 inches of fill.
“If the road had been built this way before the 2017 storms, there would have been a lot less damage,” Warren said.
Eleven Pines Road is the primary route used to get to the northwestern portion of the Eldorado National Forest. The need for access to timber projects on both public and private land, and recreation sites such as Hell Hole Reservoir, are among the reasons Eleven Pines Road was the number one priority for emergency storm damage funding in the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region last year.
Eleven Pines Road is also located in the most severely burned portion of the King Fire where tree mortality was almost 100%. The 2017 storm damage to Eleven Pines Road was a result of one of the wettest winters in California history occurring in combination with intensely burned, water-repellent soils and a lack of stabilizing vegetation and ground cover after the 2014 King Fire. Hundreds of fire killed hazard trees along the road had to be removed before road reconstruction could begin.
Storm damage repairs on Eleven Pines Road, Blacksmith Flat Road, and Ellis Road are part of a contract under the Emergency Relief for Federal Owned Roads Program that funded $6.8 million to get these public roads reopened as soon as possible. The work under this contract is expected to be completed by November 2018 or sooner.
