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DECEMBER WEATHER
Heavy rains damage
culverts and roads
Most people would not call
collapsed culverts and damaged
roads “lucky.” But that’s the word the
crew in the Operations and Maintenance
Division use to describe the winter
storm damage.
Heavy rains caused the collapse of two culverts —
one on Timber Road that resulted in a portion of the
road washing away on Dec. 7, and the other under
Beef Bend Road that resulted in a very long, deep sink
hole on Dec. 22. Both situations resulted in the crews
spending long, cold days and nights out at the sites
for much of December.
Despite that, crews describe the incidents as “lucky.”
Both situations threatened traveler safety, and it was
luck that prevented injuries and deaths.
“On Timber Road, our dispatch received a call from
a school bus driver, telling us that the road had
felt ‘soft’ as the bus ran over it,” said Stephen
Cruise, project manager. “By the time our
guys got there, the culvert had collapsed
and the road had washed out. We were
lucky. Very, very lucky.”
Adam Reynolds, heavy equipment
operator, was among the first on
the scene.
15 | Celebrating People & Partnerships — LUT Annual Report FY 2015–16
