San Bernardino National Forest, the most visited national forest in the United States, is open for business following two devastating wildfiresÑthe Old and Grand Prix fires--and Christmas Day flooding. And the major roadways into the scenic wonderland took a heavy beating during the firestorms and flash floods.

Restoring access to the tourist attraction fell to companies like Granite Construction Company who is currently performing work within the boundaries of the San Bernardino National Forest under an emergency contract with CalTrans to repair or replace 32,000 linear feet of guardrail and storm drains damaged by the fires and flood.

Granite's field engineer Jon Thomas reports that when the Old Fire jumped State Highway 18 at several locations the old wood supported guardrails were destroyed. "Once the area was safe for our crews to enter the area," Thomas explained, "we went to work putting in steel posts and installing the replacement guardrails. The value of the contract exceeds $5 million.

"One of the areas where we replaced guardrails was in the three-mile section of Highway 18 known as The Narrows," Thomas added. "Then on Christmas Day flash floods swept through the burned areas and severely damaged and undermined the roadway closing the section indefinitely. Some of our new guardrails are hanging in mid-air hundreds of feet above the canyon."

CalTrans spokesperson Holly Kress explained that The Narrows would be closed indefinitely. "The repairs are equivalent to a major highway project," Kress explained, "so the highway must be redesigned."

Thomas explained that once CalTrans engineers decide how to repair the damaged area he's sure Granite Construction will be bidding on the project. Meanwhile, tourists and mountain residents are forced to detour on State Highway 138 through Crestline.

Calex Construction was in the process of doing a sidehill stabilization project on Highway 138 when the fire roared through the area. That work included providing erosion stabilization to the uphill slope adjacent to the highway. CalTrans hired Hi-Tech Rockfall Construction to secure a steel mesh re-drape on the hillside utilizing a helicopter to lift the rock drapery in place.

"Since Hi-Tech was already on the job," Thomas stated, "Granite also hired them to do some erosion stabilization work along Highway 18. The Highway 18 project utilized aerial lift equipment and Hi-Tech's skilled climbers."

Chris Ingram from Hi-Tech Rockfall explained that the wire mesh drapery consists of panels of double-twisted hexagonal mesh draped over the rock slope. "The system is anchored at the top and attached to a wire rope cable support system. On the two projects on Highway 18 and 138, our crew of 17 attached each panel to the next with wire fasteners forming one large blanket on the slope.

"This system is generally designed to control rockfalls by providing resistance to the moving rock by having enough flexibility to allow the rock to slowly trickle its way down the slope and fall harmlessly into a ditch area," Ingram said.

"Hi-Tech started their work in The Narrows," Thomas said. "Then the Christmas Day floods hit and we had them move down to the area near Old Waterman Canyon Road

"The system worked great," Thomas revealed. "Only one draped section in The Narrows was destroyed during the flash floods, but the drape did its job before dropping huge boulders on the roadway's shoulder."

Thomas and Ingram both explained that local rental agencies provided numerous pieces of equipment for the project including forklifts, aerial booms, air compressors, trailers and pick-ups from Hertz Rentals, United Rents and CAT Rentals. "Even the helicopter was rented from Aris Helicopters," Ingram stated. "We utilize local firms whenever we take on a project and support local merchants. Our crews stayed at the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Saddleback Inn during the two and a half months we were on the job, eating at local restaurants and helping replace tourist dollars lost during the firestorms and floods."

Kress, who helped organize community meetings to introduce Granite Construction and Hi-Tech personnel to residents, explained that the heat from the Old Fire was so intense that many of the boulders above the highway became brittle and a threat to the motoring public.

"The rocks' brittleness," Kress advised, "made it much more likely that they would come tumbling down onto the roadway, creating a hazard to motorists. So we signed the contract with Granite Construction and High-Tech Rockfall to help reduce the hazard. On Highway 138 we were very concerned that if we didn't apply the mesh drapery and catch fences we would lose that roadway also."

(Above left) Jon Thomas, Field Engineer, Granite Construction. (Above Right) Flash floods severely damaged and undermined the roadways and storm drain systems. Some of the new guardrail installed by Granite was left hanging in mid-air hundreds of feet above the canyon.

Granite Construction worked part of the time on a 24-hour a day basis utilizing as many as 20 workers and earth moving equipment and dozers to clear flood control channels and remove rock and debris from the roadway. Meanwhile, Vance Construction worked side-by-side with Granite working on repair projects necessitated by the flash floods.

One project included removing a burned storm drain along Highway 18 and replacing the pipe that runs under the four-lane section of Highway 18. Other twelve-inch-diameter drainpipes, which had proven to be ineffective, were also replaced by 3-foot pipes in most cases to improve drainage and reduce erosion problems on Highway 18.

"We utilized a CAT 950F dozer with winch and a CAT D5M wheel loader to clear brush and debris from the impacted areas," Thomas noted.

Granite wasn't the only firm on the list of contractors currently performing work in the San Bernardino National Forest. It includes paving and landscape companies to soil erosion control to tree removal services in an effort to protect the natural resources and allow tourists to enjoy the facility that ranges in elevation from 2,000 feet on the valley floor to 11,502 feet at the top of Mount San Gorgonio.

Thanks to the influx of county, state and federal monies and contractors like Granite Construction, the San Bernardino National Forest is quickly recovering from the wildfires and floods. But without than influx of federal, state and local money major portions of the forest in the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountain ranges would still be off limits to visitors from all over the world.

Granite Construction is based in Watsonville, California and can be reached by calling (800) 472-6483. For additional information visit Granite Construction's website at www.graniteconstruction.com.