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“Parts of the road were still hanging over the hole, and
chunks of asphalt were falling into the water and we
could see the broken culvert washed downstream,” he
recalled. “We were really fortunate that the bus driver
called this in. It could have been so much worse.”

The sinkhole on Beef Bend Road at 146th Avenue
seemed less dramatic. A member of the community
reported the hole along the side of the road next to
the guard rail. When Ted Voelker, engineering
technician III, got to the site and looked inside, he
could see water, a broken culvert and a utility line
at the bottom of the 20-foot-deep hole.

“We were really lucky because it could have been
a lot worse,” Voelker said. “We were lucky that the
city of Tigard’s water line ran through there, because Beef Bend Road
that’s probably what held the road up.”

Voelker spent the best part of the holiday week
working with a contractor to make temporary
repairs to the culvert. Final repairs are expected to
be completed in 2017. Meanwhile, other weather-
related issues were also in play. The Dec. 7 storm
caused a lot of localized flooding and wind damage
throughout the county, resulting in about $4 million
in damage. Crews repaired damaged shoulders,
drainage ditches, small landslides and potholes on
County roads into January. But the major work —
temporary repairs to both the Timber and Beef Bend
roads — was completed by Jan. 1, despite a year-end
snow, ice and wind storm that sent crews out in snow
plows and sanders.

The storm damage highlighted an ongoing
problem, however: A maintenance funding shortfall.
The County has had to defer preventive maintenance
and repairs, which created safety issues like those on
Beef Bend and Timber Road. The County’s
maintenance funding comes primarily from the state
gas tax and vehicle fees and the County gas tax. These
funding sources are not keeping pace with increasing
maintenance costs.

The County is continuing to pursue alternative
funding sources in FY 2016 –17 to improve road
maintenance and safety.

Learn more about road maintenance at
www.keeproadssafe.org

Timber Road Celebrating People & Partnerships — LUT Annual Report FY 2015–16 | 18