Sand canyon Road repair: a community effort

The weather web site mountainbase.com, based at Oak Knolls in Golden Hills, reports that the total rainfall for the first two months of 2017 at that site measured 9.52 inches. The rainfall came during two major storms, one on Jan. 5 and another on Feb., 17. The heavy storms damaged the dirt roads of eastern Sand Canyon, leaving them eroded, severely creviced and impassable. As they have done before, the residents worked together to fix the roads, which now are in good shape. They attacked the problem with tractors outfitted with various types of drags and with front end loaders. One resident dragged a tire behind his car to help smooth the roads. “It’s usually beat up after a storm,” said resident Mike Bendlin, who works at the Lehigh Southwest Cement plant. “It takes a couple of days [to fix]. The people that can, do.” During the most recent deluge, Bendlin slept at the cement plant rather than attempt to cross the flooded Cache Creek, which runs over a cement Arizona crossing on Pine Canyon Road (photo No 001).

He knew what could happen. Seven years ago, during a similar storm, the overflowing Cache Creek grabbed his vehicle and gave it a ride downstream. Bendlin’s wife Angie said that if you can’t see the concrete under the flowing water, don’t even try to cross. “If you can see the concrete, it’s safe to pass,” she said. Sixteen-year resident Enrique Ramirez (photo No 002), walking his dogs on Juniper Way, said that after the last storm, “The road was horrible. You couldn’t drive on it, not a single car.”

Photo No 003, Mike, Angie and Ashton Bendlin.

Photo No 004, the smooth road at the entrance to Pine Canyon. In the city of Tehachapi, the rains created delays in the road work on Valley Boulevard but have not caused damage. “Nothing significant or out of the norm,” Assistant City Manager Chris Kirk said. “Our infrastructure really handled the rain well. We did see an influx of storm water with localized flooding. There was runoff from farming on Tehachapi Boulevard.” City crews kept storm drains clear and removed two trees that fell due to water saturation of the roots. The runoff from the city flows north through drainage channels, where it meets Tehachapi Creek near the wastewater plant (“It’s the lowest spot in town,” Kirk said.) and flows downhill , west to the Central Valley. Kirk said the road/storm drain construction on Valley Boulevard “will be wrapped up pretty quickly if the weather stays clear.” Kern County Public Works Director Craig Pope, in his Feb. 14 report to the county supervisors on road conditions following the rainstorms, said that a road might be dangerously eroded beneath without being apparent. “You just don’t know what’s underneath that water... If you can’t see the pavement do not drive on it.” He said that six inches of moving water can knock an adult down and 12 inches can sweep a vehicle away.