Western Federal Lands Highway Division

The Western Federal Lands Highway Division (WFLHD) of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in cooperation with the US Forest Service (USFS) has completed repairs to the Benham Creek crossing on Forest Highway 25 in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Lewis County, Washington. The site occurs at the crossing of Benham Creek at approximately MP 13.6 on FR 25. During a storm event in late 2008, a landslide occurred through this area that obliterated the bridge crossing over Benham Creek and deposited debris over the roadway in the vicinity. A temporary repair to the site occurred in the summer of 2009 with the placement of a single lane bridge over the creek. The landslide remains active and continuing movement has caused intermittent short-term road closures until debris is removed.

The road provides administrative and public access to portions of the Forest that are otherwise not accessible to motorized vehicles. The route accesses the Windy Ridge Visitor Center overlooking the Mt. St. Helens blast zone and during the summer traffic rises up to 1,800 vehicles a day. The Benham Creek Slide activity during the past few decades has resulted in damage to Forest Road 25 north of Benham Creek, loss of culverts in the Benham Creek channel, and, in January 2009, the loss of a concrete bridge at the crossing. Benham Creek Slide is expected to continue to experience periodic activity in the future that will pose a high risk of damage to, or loss of, transportation-related structures at Benham Creek. Currently, access at the temporary one-lane bridge poses a restriction to oversized vehicles and presents a safety hazard and potential congestion point to the traveling public. The purpose of this project was to provide a cost-effective, permanent two-lane crossing of Benham Creek that may be able to withstand future slide activity, can be readily maintained, and does not present an over-investment of funds given the potential of slide activity in the area.

Funding for the project is through the Emergency Relief for Federally Owned Roads (ERFO) Program from the Federal Highway Trust Fund. The emergency program finances the repair, reconstruction or obliteration of roads that have suffered serious damage as a result of a natural disaster over a wide area or catastrophic failure.

Resources

• Project Maps
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• Project Photos
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