Low-volume roads are recognized as one of the primary sources of sediment in many watersheds. The authors have carried out research on the details of the complex soil erosion processes occurring on low-volume roads for more than 10 years. An overview of their research summarizes the results of numerous past and ongoing field and computer modeling studies on road erosion processes and the effects of road design on road erosion. The authors have found that insloping and outsloping effects on roads are often overshadowed by the effects of rutting. Most soil erosion on roads is from concentrated flow in ruts or ditches. Adding gravel increases hydraulic conductivity and reduces erosion. Road erosion rates can also be decreased by reducing tire pressure or by removing roads. The authors are developing applications of the Water Erosion Prediction Project model as user-friendly erosion prediction tools for road managers. Further work is required to quantify the effects of current management techniques on water quality and to develop new low-impact road design and management technology.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
WempleB. C.Hydrologic Integration of Forest Roads with Stream Networks in Two Basins, Western Cascades, Oregon. M.S. thesis. Oregon State University, Corvallis, 1994.
2.
ReidL. M., and DunneT.. Sediment Production from Forest Road Surfaces. Water Resources Research, Vol. 20, No. 11, 1984, pp. 1, 753-1, 761.
3.
MegahanW. F.Increased Sedimentation Following Helicopter Logging and Prescribed Burning on Granitic Soil. In Erosion and Sedimentation in the Pacific Rim: Symposium Proceedings (BeschtaR. L., BlinnT., GrantG. E., SwansonF. J., and IceG. G., eds.), Corvallis, Oreg., IAHS Publ. 165, International Association for Hydrological Sciences Press, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, 1987, pp. 259, 260.
4.
MontgomeryD. R.Road Surface Drainage, Channel Initiation, and Slope Instability. Water Resources Research, Vol. 30, No. 6, 1994, pp. 1,925-1,932.
5.
PackerP. E., and ChristensenG. F.. Guides for Controlling Sediment from Secondary Logging Roads. Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service, Ogden, Utah, 1977, 42 pp.
6.
FoltzR. B.Traffic and No-Traffic on an Aggregate Surfaced Road: Sediment Production Differences. Proc., Seminar on Environmentally Sound Forest Road and Wood Transport, Sinaia, Romania, Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, 1996.
7.
ElliotW. J., FoltzR. B., and RemboldtM. D.. Predicting Sedimentation from Roads at Stream Crossings with the WEPP Model. Paper 947511. Presented at 1994 ASAE International Winter Meeting, St. Joseph, Mich., 1994, 10 pp.
8.
ElliotW. J., FoltzR. B., and LuceC. H.. Validation of Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) Model for Low-Volume Forest Roads. In Proceedings of 6th International Conference on Low-Volume Roads, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1995, pp. 178–186.
9.
ElliotW. J., and HallD. E.. Water Erosion Prediction (WEPP) Forest Applications. General Technical Report 365. Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Ogden, Utah, 1997.
10.
HauptH. F., RickardH. C., and FinnL. E.. Effect of Severe Rainstorms on Insloped and Outsloped Roads. Research Note INT-1. Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service, Ogden, Utah, 1963.
11.
HartsogW. S., and GonsiorM. J.. Analysis of Construction and Initial Performance of the China Glen Road, Warren District, Payette National Forest. General Technical Report INT-5. Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service, Ogden, Utah, 1973, 22 pp.
12.
LaflenJ. M., ElliotW. J., FlanaganD. C., MeyerC. R., and NearingM. A.. WEPP—Predicting Water Erosion Using a Process-Based Model. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Vol. 52, No. 2, 1997, pp. 96–102.
13.
FlanaganD. C., and 1995L. J. Livingston.. WEPP User Summary USDA-Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP). NSERL Report 11. USDA-ARS National Soil Erosion Laboratory, West Lafayette, Ind., 1995.
14.
TysdalL., ElliotB., LuceC., and BlackT.. Modeling Insloping Road Erosion Processes with the WEPP Watershed Model. Paper 975014. Presented at 1997 ASAE International Meeting, St. Joseph, Mich., 1997, 14 pp.
15.
FoltzR. B.Sediment Production from Forest Roads with Wheel Ruts. Watershed Planning and Analysis in Action, ASCE, New York, N.Y., 1990.
16.
BurroughsE. R.Jr., and KingJ. G.. Reduction of Soil Erosion on Forest Roads. General Technical Report INT-264. Intermountain Forest and Range Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Ogden, Utah, 1989.
17.
LuceC. H., and BlackT. A.. Sediment Production from Forest Roads in Western Oregon(under review). Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Boise, Idaho, 1997.
18.
McCoolD. K., FosterG. R., MutchlerC. K., and MeyerL. D.. Revised Slope Length Factor for the Universal Soil Loss Equation. Transactions of the ASAE, Vol. 32, No. 5, 1989, pp. 1,571-1,576.
19.
NearingM. A.A Single Continuous Function for Slope Steepness Influence on Soil Loss. Soil Sci. Am. Journal., Vol. 61, 1997, pp. 917–919.
20.
LuceC. H.Forests and Wetlands. In Environmental Hydrology (WardA. S. and ElliotW. J., eds.), CRC Press, Lewis Publishers, New York, 1995, pp. 267, 268.
21.
FlerchingerG. N., and WattsF. J.. Predicting Infiltration Parameters for a Road Sediment Model. Transactions of the ASAE, Vol. 30, No. 6, 1987, pp. 1,700-1,705.
22.
LuceC. H., and CundyT. W.. Parameter Identification for a Runoff Model for Forest Roads. Water Resources Research, Vol. 43, No. 4, 1994, pp. 1,057-1,069.
23.
Snow Hydrology: Summary Report of the Snow Investigations. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, North Pacific Division, Portland, Oreg., 1956.
24.
BurroughsE. R.Jr., LuceC. H., and PhillipsF.. Estimating Interrill Erodibility of Forest Soils. Transactions of the ASAE, Vol. 35, No. 5, 1992, pp. 1,489-1,495.
25.
UlmanP., LopesV., and LuceC. H.. Evaluation of Interrill Erodibility for Improved Erosion Prediction Models. Technical Report of Agreement INT-92716-RJVA. Intermountain Forest and Range Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Ogden, Utah, 1994.
26.
FoltzR. B.1995. Sediment Reduction from the Use of Lowered Tire Pressures. SAE 1994 Transactions, Journal of Commercial Vehicles, Vol. 2, No. 103, 1995, pp. 376–381.
27.
FoltzR. B., and ElliotW. J.. Measuring and Modeling Impacts of Tire Pressure on Road Erosion. Proc., Seminar on Environmentally Sound Forest Road and Wood Transport. Sinaia, Romania, Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, 1996.
28.
GreenfieldP. H.Central Tire Inflation: USDA Forest Service Development Program. Paper 937510. Presented at 1993 International Winter Meeting of the ASAE, St. Joseph, Mich., 1993.
29.
SwiftL. W.Jr.Soil Losses from Roadbeds and Cut and Fill Slopes in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry, Vol. 8, No. 4, 1984, pp. 209–213.
30.
FoltzR. B., and TruebeM.. Effect of Aggregate Quality on Sediment Production from a Forest Road. In Proceedings of 6th International Conference on Low-Volume Roads, Vol. 1, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1995, pp. 49–57.
31.
LuceC. H.Effectiveness of Road Ripping in Restoring Infiltration Capacity. Restoration Ecology, Vol. 5, No. 3, 1997.
32.
ElliotW. J., FoltzR. B., LuceC. H., and KolerT. E.. Computer-Aided Risk Analysis in Road Decomissioning. Proc., AWRA Watershed Restoration Management: Physical, Chemical, and Biological Considerations, Syracuse, N.Y., 1996, pp. 341–350.
33.
MorfinS., ElliotB., FoltzR., and MillerS.. Predicting Effects of Climate, Soil and Topography on Road Erosion with WEPP. Paper 965016. Presented at 1996 ASAE Annual Meeting, St. Joseph, Mich., 1996.
34.
ElliotW. J., GravesS. M., HallD., and MollJ. E.. The X-DRAIN Cross Drain Spacing and Sediment Yield Model. 9877 1801-SDTC. Technology and Development Center, USDA Forest Service, San Dimas, Calif., 1998.
