Miller's Bog Road Crossing

[RednekF350]

The state needs to be more concerned about the problems that beavers are causing. We just can just let them work freely without some sort of control. They have ruined so many streams.

Guy,
Fish and Wildlife is very well aware of the beaver problems and they issue nuisance permits rather easily during the trapping seasons. Hewey's buddy piled them up like cord wood this year with a nuisance permit up north.

One problem is that there aren't that many trappers in the State.
When I got my license there were only 600 trappers in NJ. In 1979 there were 4,400 statewide.
They can't explain it but there is a new interest in trapping and the number is now up to just over a 1000 for the first time in years.

Trapping is hard work, time consuming and requires daily checks of the trapline regardless of weather conditions. The prices on beaver are way down and the prep time for just one beaver pelt takes hours. The people that do it do it because they enjoy it, not for the money.

I don't think it's practical to expect "The State" to go out and trap beaver on our dime.

 

[92 Blazer Jeff]

Maybe the TV shows like Mountain Men have got more people interested in trapping.

 

[RednekF350]

Wow ! I am pleasantly surprised.
The Parks and Forestry people have jumped on this problem with much appreciated fervor.

I just got back from taking my gun for a walk (September Goose) with the dogs and when I rounded the bend I saw that the new pipe has already been delivered ! This is amazing. A tree has been felled to block the road until the work is done. They have already spread a foot of soil over the fractured area over the existing structures.
I tied to get Murph to pose for a photo inside the pipe but he wasn't having it. He just stood there and barked into the pipe.

Thanks again to Turtle and Smoke Jumper for pushing the buttons. Calls were made on Wednesday and pipe was delivered on Friday !

 

[Teegate]

That is a nice pipe.

 

[smoke_jumper]

Keep us updated on the progress.

 

[Teegate]

I visited there today. I wanted to see the before and after. My wife went but refused to get out of the car. Chigger worries. I told her to stay on the road but that did not work. I had my sneakers on and Jessica offered me money to run through the open grassy area there.

 

[smoke_jumper]

I bet this time of year it's more likely to get chiggers in your car then walking down the middle of that road

 

[Teegate]

I did not tell her that

 

[RednekF350]

Well the work is done. The time table was amazing. Phone calls were made last Wednesday, work was done by this Wednesday.
I really do appreciate what was done but it is obvious that budget constraints dictated the scope of work and how it could be done. It is admirable that such a seemingly unimportant crossing brought such quick action.

A pine log was used to form a retaining edge for the roadway and there is no longer an outflow control structure that kept the flow activity away from the face of the roadway embankment. The old system was a pre-fabricated, corrugated steel, double weir with adjustable water level slots and a vertical drain that dropped the water down to the outflow pipe. The new system is two straight pipes laid side by side. A loose piece of concrete is laid between the two pipes to deflect the flow. Hopefully this will help prevent the hydraulic phenomena known as "piping" where water find its way around the intended channels.

The flow today was low/normal and we have had no rain in a long time. Unfortunately, the pipes were set such that they are already flowing half full in the current low-flow stage. Setting them higher would have created a hump in the road that would have been even harder to retain laterally so that is a compromise that probably had to be made.

Only time will tell how the newly piped crossing will fare. The nearly vertical upstream and downstream embankment faces look like they will be hard to stabilize.
I will continue to photograph any changes and post them here.

 

[Teegate]

What is going to happen when that tree rots?????

 

[Pinesbucks]

That is a pretty fast turn around to fix the problem. Can you call about the Ives branch? The pipe is already there they just haven't put it in over like 10 years. Obviously the situation is differnt as at the Ives branch is not a frequently traveled road.

 

[RednekF350]

Well it made it through the first big rain event. There is little bit of material missing from around the northern most pipe and the road has settled there a little which is to be expected. Beneath the log looks very precarious.
Let's hope it lasts !

 

[Piney4life]

A load of rip rap rock would stabilize the banks on both sides

 

[Piney4life]

That road is a emergency exit as well for wharton run development incase they are cut off from chew road

 

[smoke_jumper]

A load of rip rap rock would stabilize the banks on both sides

With the budget the way it is do you know any one that would be willing to donate those materials if the FFS would like it.

 

[bobpbx]

Rip-rap is a major annoyance in the pines. They've done that in Bamber and Forked River. Very quickly invasives grow between the rocks, leading to a weedy look with a poor view of the water and no access.

 

[Piney4life]

With the budget the way it is do you know any one that would be willing to donate those materials if the FFS would like it.

I will ask around

 

[Piney4life]

Rip-rap is a major annoyance in the pines. They've done that in Bamber and Forked River. Very quickly invasives grow between the rocks, leading to a weedy look with a poor view of the water and no access.

If done with the right fabric paper it works well. only for around the pipe is where i was thinking not whole bank side

 

[RednekF350]

A sudden change has occurred just in the last week. I am back here two to three times per week running our dogs and the changes shown below occurred since Tuesday. Another beaver dam has been started only40' downstream of the outfall and it is surcharging the pipes beneath the road. This is now the 4th dam in a run of stream less than a mile long. The various dams have raised the water level a couple of feet in this stretch of the Albertson . That doesn't sound like much but that couple of feet will probably take this road out. A new lodge is also under construction in the main bog upstream of the pipe crossing.

There are two large holes formed behind the retaining pine log and the pipes have almost no remaining capacity to convey anything more than normal flow.

Smoke jumper, maybe you could give your contacts a call ? I will let Turtle know too. I am not sure what could be done at this point short of dynamiting the dams. The beavers wouldn't be impressed and wpuld probably quickly rebuild.

I am a trapper but I don't trap beaver. The thought of 330 body grippers in these streams back here scares me because of the dogs sometimes going in and out of the water using the same beaver bank trails.

The upstream face of the road. Note two large holes in the road to the left and right of the pipes I fear that the hydraulic phenomena of piping may be starting where water will start finding its way around the pipes following the backfill envelope.
Also note that the beaver debris is starting to accumulate on this upstream face as well.



The innocent looking beaver dam that is less than a week old. You can see the outfall in the foreground.



The road starting to fail.

 

[Teegate]

That road is doomed if they are not removed.