Here are a couple trouble spots on Plaskett:
The road curves up through that wash out spot then curves around to the left when viewed from this photo, so the top of the wash out is depicted in the next photo. If the erosion is not stopped, it could result in partial loss of road in two places.
All the photos below are of Nacimiento-West, as we are now calling it, and were taken by Tom Collins and Colleen Wilson
Many thanks Kate, & all, in the sharing of these photo’s, informing us of the damage to to our roads, etc. What comes to mind, is the much needed break that will come now, in slowing the tourism of the precious Big Sur coastline. ☮
there’s just nothing..nothing to hold the earth…just wow
Wow…lotsa movement, and looking like much more to come. Glad everyone is safe; sorry for Ge’s home loss. Take care of yourselves.
Isn’t Plaskett your road? So much slipping and sliding. Now Big Sur is isolated again
Plaskett’s starting to get $eriou$. A lot can be done with mattock, shovel and youthful energy. A skilled backhoe operator may soon be required.
Number 1 son (only son) drove all the way to SLO yesterday to get a pick axe. I have one, but he was afraid he might break it, and then he would have to buy two!! LOL
It is, but I am in contact with the FHL crew who grades it for the USFS.
Indeed, & as always, Mother Nature has it’s own way’s, even if difficult for us, in answering the call, for much less tourism. 😇
These photos are devastating signposts marking our ecological calamity. Fire and Flood (and Plague). Despite the silver lining of cutting the path off to tourists (Amen), to quote the Moody Blues: “It makes me want to cry . . . cry . . . cry.”
Reminds me of how upper Palo looked after the winter 2016/2017 rains. We are now 4 years out from upper Palo being badly damaged with no county plan to rebuild the road. Just a gate blocking the road.
Indeed,,, we cry. I can share, that Cosmically, this time is a Paradigm Shift, & all about Waking-Us-Up, to what we really know is of most value, & importance in our lives. It is way past time, that All of the People begin working together, in surrendering the, Me, my Way, & my Gain mentality, which only limit’s us, & stepping into what I call, the New Paradigm, & The We, & Our Collective Gain~~ Yes! 🌎
Thanks for the great pix!
I have done ecosystem restoration consulting for more than fifty years, I learned some crucial distinctions by observation and continuing to question conventional knowledge. I’ve written a few papers and articles. Anybody can do it, but one has to be willing to learn from one’s mistakes.
The last pic appears to be an old fill. Was it constructed according to soils engineering standards? Fill is unconsolidated material. It depends on friction between particles to resist gravity. Engineering standards are intended to be so tight as to increase friction and keep water out. Water cannot flow through or drain out of it as long as the structure remains tight enough (90% of maximum dry density). This situation is very much like the washout at Rat Creek on hwy 1.
The previous pic illustrates how the concentration rather than dispersal of water can result in washouts and progressive gully formation. Apparently, a berm, intended to keep water flow on the roadbed, failed, possibly because the gradient wasn’t steep enough to keep the rock and soil debris from settling out and effectively raising the surface. Normal chaotic flow or flow around obstructions also can cause a dirt berm to wash out, and the slope surface below normally cannot resist the resulting forces, which are compounded by large and small particle displacement.
Plaskett was not graded properly after the Dolan Fire which is the reason for so many of its fails. It was graded to the inside, not to the outside.
Seems you’ve had more than your share of troubles these past few years. My heart goes out to you and the others living at the edge of god’s country.
Unfortunately, simply grading to the outside is not necessarily good enough either; just because it’s a dirt road doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be properly engineered. I’ve seen some very good ‘dozer operators that can do a good job of road-building, but just because one is a ‘dozer operator does not make one an engineer. The key is to not allow much accumulation of water anywhere. Ditches and berms are not alone sufficient. Each case is different.
Pix number ten illustrates how well burns are a lot more stable than many seem to believe. Note that concentration on the road is responsible, not the burned area–which is amazingly stable, with only a few small rills spaced evenly and closely across the soil/ash surface. The lye created by the first rain creates a kind of “cement,” and “heat-shock” fungi knit the particles together. This, together with sufficiently rapid infiltration and percolation, minimize making the rills progressive and turn into progressive gullies. Again, every case is different.
Pic number 6 is an example of how banking to the outside can be questionable. It might be that off-road vehicles might have caused the outward tilt or made it worse by skidding around the curve. A culvert with a debris trap at the inlet (with wingwalls) is what is needed, plus an energy dissapator at the outlet. And, yes, every case is still different.
Pic seven illustrates how a road surface can act as an energy dissipator and debris trap. However, as soon as the gradient steepens, the runoff velocity will immediately go up again accordingly. One has always to think about the total context, not just one issue isolated from the rest.
Scott bogan. The palo colorado road just serves residents and backcountry campers. No profits being impacted, no problem. It’s a sad realization that the highway is a golden egg for the state, thru the visit california, rental car tax, gas tax. I wondered long and hard how they could afford to rebuild that last bridge at 26 million bucks. Even with a can of coke selling for 2.85 in “big sur”, it still does not add up. The road is as henry miller would call it, a air-conditionined nightmare. The simplest ,cheapest And most sane thing to do to truly address overuse, (if there is in fact any) is a reduction in the daytime speed limit. To 25. Before 8am ,regular speed limits and and after dark. But from 8 am to dark,25. This gives the capitalust,tax cheats enough time in the morning to get all thier illigal workers here from salinas and monterey(the 5 to 7 am commuter 500)Many people look at thier phones for travel times. And extra hour or two to the trip would allow for many to opt for a quicker route. Returning big sur to a destination and not a drive thru. …but this would be way to easy a solution. Cost almost nothing. And would improve public safety. So it’s gonna be dead on arrival..
Birdman
Interesting idea, Birdman…
Kate. This is the best I can come up with after years of thinking about the issues at hand. Once newsom vetoed a toll road on lombard in SF on constitutional grounds, I realized that route would be a long legal battle to obtain. And in the end would not be successful.. reduction of speed limit would address mutiple issues at once. Overuse, pollution,public safety. It would litterly save lives while combating overuse. Win win. Also Seems like the least costly plan of action. And the least policy and procedures that would need to be changed ect.
Also if you guys need any tools, chainsaws,. Shovels picks ect just let me know.
Birdman
I’m not a Big Sur resident, as I live in Oakland, so I speak with a different perspective. Why is there animas against tourists? Are they all so bad? Isn’t tourist revenue vital for communities there?
One because some of them behave so very badly leaving human waste and tp in people’s driveways and all up and down the road along with all sorts of other trash and graffitti; two, because there are just too many of them; three, because they are bringing covid from whatever state they are from and not masking or socially distancing; and fourth, but probably not last, they just come, make a mess, take their selfies, and do not patronize our businesses.Yes, there are some really nice tourists, but at times like this, the disrespectful ones seem to outnumber the respectful ones. We used to be a destination, but have become a “drive-thru.” With the road being out, maybe we can become a destination again and welcome back tourists who stay here and patronize our businesses.
I don’t think my post went thru, so am leaving it again.
You have likely already discussed this option, but how bout installing 2 traffic signal’s, on opposite ends of traffic into Big Sur, monitoring the number of cars going thru. Just like the ‘One-Way’ traffic signal’s that are installed on road’s where one lane has washed out. We have these in our Santa Cruz mountains it seems every Winter, in a number of location’s, & works great! Once visitor’s learn that their ‘sit & wait’ time, could be up to 30 min., or longer, waiting for so many cars to leave from the opposite direction, they will think longer about coming to visit! It reminds me of some of our fav restaurant’s here in Santa Cruz County with long waiting line’s, & many people simply don’t want to wait, so leave.
Are the young fellers in pic 12 on solid ground?