Tram Rd shut down indefinately

[guest]

The Tram Rd,, (looks like a bit before the big dip, has been badly damaged, as a 15 ft. section is gone, with many feet of nothing below.
I'm sure the maint. guys found away across to ck on the building.
Maybe Tram Tim will comment, since he's most likely not working!

And, Hwy 243 has a section gone, (don't know where), but they've shut the whole rd. down for fear of more collapse.

I've heard Whitewater Canyon Rd. is damaged, know several main road have also been closed.
Indian Canyons is also closed, and I've heard it's tough to access CV Preserve due to damaged roads.
I have 6" of new sand in my backyard here in Snow Creek, luckily Caltrans has plowed our road to free us!
ss

[futbol]

Here is what was shared on Facebook to the San Diego Hiking Society of the tramway road.



https://www.kesq.com/news/palm-springs- ... PcB-0ZMcy4

Mt San Gorgonio also has a severely washed out road. CalTrans will be busy.

[guest]

To repair this road, I'd think they'll have to clean an area & make a pad to work on, as the tram rd. is so narrow.
Big job, lots of dirt & rock, lots of $ lost by tram, lots of bummed families wanting to play in snow.

[arocknoid]

Haven't checked for Tram Rd emergency contract, but SRs 74, 111, and 243 emergency contracts have already been authorized:



Let's hope the repairs to the Tram Rd are expedited.

[mattytreks]

Here's the full-resolution image referenced above, for full effect!

On a side note, that is an absolutely gigantic pipe perpendicular to the road. I imagine that is a DWA water pipe? Or perhaps something else?

[zippetydude]

Based upon that last pic I'd guess that the infrastructure of the pipe and underlayment is still intact. If so (hopefully) they'll just need to push filler back over the area and pave it again. That can happen very quickly if the damage is only on the surface. We'll see. If there is erosion beneath the pipe, then it will present a greater problem. This was a truly powerful storm, so it seems to have caused problems everywhere. The flooding has quickly passed, and with a bit of luck the damage will be quickly corrected as well. Time will tell.

BTW that huge pipe was probably meant to carry the water that tore up the road, so a reasonable guess would be that the area leading up to it got clogged with debris and the pipe got bypassed by the flow, which led to the erosion. Again, just a guess.

z

[Perry]

The closure of the tram might have prevented a snowshoer from starting an avalanche on the east face.

[guest]

Nice photos. I'd assume that giant pipe got clogged, (notice the wooden & rock debris around). This storm carried full-sized logs down these steep slopes.

Hopefully, as Zip mentioned, the "infrastructure" of that pipe & base is intact, but I'd imagine that road can't weigh on that pipe too much.

Perry, at first I thought you were joking, but possibly true. This last dump has to be the 3rd or 4th in a month, so the layered, melting / freezing, adhesion, (or lasck of),
probably make conditions dicey.
Very smart for the tram to close Before the storm, (even with the financial loss), as getting folks off that mt. in those conditions is really tough.
Imagine a bunch of tourists on the uphill side, having to wade across that "creek".

I heard Whitewater Cyn Rd. got hit in a few places. I wonder how the folks who need to come in & out are going to handle it, and whether Caltrans can build a :drive-around" for them in the meantime.
Kudos to Caltrans for hitting our road, (Snow Creek) yesterday & today, allowing us to get in & out.
Hwy 111 heading into Palm Springs has been closed at Windy point due to rock fall, so Caltrans is busy.

Anyone have any beta on avalanches on San Gorgonio? I've read where there's been some on south-facing slopes.

ss

[Ed]

Check the SGWA discussion board for photos of avalanches on the north side of San Gorgonio. Also the So Cal Snow Avalanche Center reports:

http://www.socalsnow.org/

On the other hand, SanJacJon seems to regularly traverse from Wellman's Divide to Miller Saddle along the trail route, without commenting on avalanche danger. But conditions can very different a day after a report is filed.

[zippetydude]

Excellent link Ed. And that picture is frightening. I've been up all those chutes except the middle one, and they all had significant events. The far right one is where a few years ago I took a step and the area I was standing on slid about 30 feet, then stopped. I may have been luckier than I had realized. That was one crazy storm! And I agree, Perry, if there were slides going on all over the place, especially at a little over 9000' elevation, San J most likely had its share as well.

z