Burned Area Emergency Response Tools

Post-Fire Road Treatment Tools

The synthesis of the Post-Fire Road Treatment Tools for BAER teams is described in A Synthesis of Post-Fire Road Treatments for BAER Teams: Methods. Treatment Effectiveness, and Decision-Making Tools for Rehabilitation (JFSP Project # 06-3-4-03).

Summary

A synthesis of post-fire road treatment information was compiled to assist BAER specialists when making road rehabilitation decisions. A questionnaire was developed; 30 interviews of BAER team engineers and hydrologists were conducted; gray literature and other relevant publications were acquired and analyzed; and road rehabilitation procedures and analysis tools were reviewed. Post-fire road treatments are implemented if the values at risk warrant the treatment, and are based on regional characteristics, including timing of first damaging storm and window of implementation. Post-fire peak flow estimation is important to select road treatments. Interview results indicate that USGS methods are used for larger watersheds (> 5 mi²), and NRCS Curve Number methods are used for smaller watersheds (< 5 mi²). These methods are not parameterized and validated for post-fire conditions. Many BAER team members used their own rules to determine parameter values for USGS regression and NRCS CN methods; therefore, there is no consistent way to estimate post-fire peak flow. Many BAER road treatments for individual stream crossings were prescribed based on road/culvert surveys, without considering capacities of existing road structure and increased post-fire peak flow. Rolling dips/water bars, culvert upgrading, and ditch cleaning/armoring are the most frequently used road treatments for overall Regions. Except for culverts, insufficient data is available on other road treatments to estimate their capacity and to evaluate their effectiveness.

The results of this synthesis consist of the following:

1. Post-Fire Peak Flow and Erosion Estimation, and

2. BAER Road Treatments.

USDA Forest Service - RMRS - Moscow Forestry Sciences Laboratory
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