Forest Road Deactivation Practices
in the Pacific Northwest
24 - Pre-work Checklist	Downstream Dam, Upstream Dam

Legal Requirements

• Do you have permits required to deactivate the road system?
• Do you have a detailed map, deactivation plan and prescription?
• Do you know the standards of the deactivation project, i.e. level of deactivation, road width, access requirements, stable cut/fill angles?

Water Quality Issues

• Do you have all the necessary stream information?
• Are fish on site, or how far downstream is fish-habitat?
• Are any intake locations of licensed water users in the area?
• Have licensed water users been notified of the work on their stream? (72 hrs in advance in BC)

Environmental Protection

• Is your equipment in good working condition (oil leaks)
• Do you have a complete spill kit on your machine?
• Can you contact supervisors in environmental/safety emergencies?
• Do you have your water manager's tool kit available on site to deal with unexpected water quality challenges?
• Are there rainfall shutdown guidelines in effect in your work area?
• Are there areas with terrain stability concerns in your work area?
• Are other known resource values in the area such as pipelines, powerlines, visual concerns or protected wildlife features?

Voluntary Shutdown Guidelines

You should consider to shut down your work site under one or more of the following conditions:

• The rain gauge on site indicates that the established precipitation limits have been exceeded.
• Instream work required can not be completed without uncontrolled sediment transport.
• Piled soil material will not stand at their rated angle of repose which means that soils are saturated beyond their liquid limit.
• Cross-ditches can not be installed without draining significant volumes of ponded or running ditchline water.
• Culvert material can not be removed without being washed away.
• Water on road surface washes material down tire or machine tracks.
• Road prism is saturated from ponded or seepage water.

Before You Leave the Site

• Take steps to minimize further negative environmental impacts which may include backup cross-ditches and erosion protection measures.
• Try to work somewhere else away from the sensitive site for the remainder of the day if possible.
• Take a picture of your emergency measures in case your actions are being questioned later, and notify your supervisor.
• Before leaving for the day, account for all other workers in the area.

Responsibilities Of Employers and Employees

Employers should provide training to their employees so that workers, supervisors and designated individuals are familiar with:

• Basic first aid and evacuation procedures;
• Rainfall shutdown limits and rain gauge measurements;
• Forest fire reporting and suppression;
• Recognition of existing and potential instability;
• Reporting of landslides and other environmental emergencies;
• Transportation of Dangerous Goods procedures;
• Oil spill responses and reporting.

Back	Top of Page  Home  Table of Contents

Introduction  1   Water Management  2   Waterbars & Ditchblocks  3   Safety and Road Surface  4   Revegetation  5   Sediment Control  6   Erosion Protection  7   Dewatering Streams  8   Cross-Ditches (Road Intact)  9   Cross-Ditches in Pullback  10   Partial Sidecast Pullback  11   Full Sidecast Pullback  12

13  Blanket Drains   14  Trench Drains   15  French Drains   16  Fords   17  Cross-Ditching Practices   18  Cross-Ditching in Pullback   19  Partial Pullback Practices   20  Full Pullback Practices   21  Wood Culvert Removal   22  Metal Culvert Removal   23  Stream Diversion Dams   24  Pre-Work Checklist

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