The Laws of Fiji
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Last Updated: 1 August 2017
9.
9
Road Location, Clearing and Construction
9.1 Construction of haulage roads must be confined to the road alignment shown in the Harvesting Plan.
9.2 Any deviations/alterations to the road alignment must be covered by a certified variation to the Harvesting Plan prior to construction.
9.3 The width of major haulage roads should not exceed 5.5 to 6 m and minor roads 3.7 to 4.5 m. The road clearing width should be minimised and should not exceed 20 metres (including width of road) for major haulage roads or 15 metres for minor haulage roads unless FHCL deems it necessary for safety reasons and to enhance the drying of constructed road surfaces.
9.4 All road construction, maintenance and drainage works must be conducted during dry weather.
9.5 During construction, all trees within the road line must be directionally felled in a manner that minimises damage to the residual stand and promotes full utilisation of the felled trees and proper disposal of the slash.
9.6 Roads should be located on or along ridge tops or on moderate side slopes wherever possible. The alignment should be designed to—
- •minimise the earthworks
- •ensure good drainage
- •minimise the proximity of roads to streams and minimise the number of stream crossings. Roads should be at least 20 metres from the edge of the closest stream buffer zone and care must be taken to prevent any side-cast material from entering the stream buffer.
9.7 Roads should be constructed and compacted well in advance of proposed haulage operations to allow the road to dry out and ‘bed-in’ before heavy use.
9.8 All surface formation and maintenance for Category A roads must be undertaken with a grader.
Road Grades and Cambers 9.9 Road grades should generally be 8° (14%) or less, although sections steeper than 8° may be approved by FHCL in order to reduce overall construction lengths or reduce earthworks, provided that adequate drainage can be installed.
9.10 Camber and super-elevation of the road surface should be properly formed to allow for water runoff.
Figure 1 — Clearing beyond the width of the road formation should be minimised and should be done by manual felling and by avoiding the blading of soil where possible.
Box and Side Cuts
9.11 Box cuts must be avoided wherever possible and may only be constructed in short sections where adequate road drainage can be achieved. Box and side cuts deeper than 2 metres must be shown on the Harvesting Plan.
9.12 Side cut roads should generally not be located on slopes greater than 30° (58%) on stable soil types or 25° (46%) on unstable soils. Any side cuts on slopes above these limits should be very carefully considered and shown on the Harvesting Plan.
9.13 Wherever side cutting is necessary, the roadway width must be kept on solid ground (ie on the cut section and not on any part of the fill section).
9.14 Grass or reeds must be planted on cuts and fills soon after construction to minimise erosion and to stabilise the road formation.
Batters and Benches 9.15 Benches must be constructed to avoid erosion or batter slumping where batters (either cut or fill) are in excess of 3 metres.
9.16 All benches when formed should be graded back against the cut edge.
9.17 To minimise erosion, vegetation should be retained at the top of cut batters and at the toe of fill batters and shrubs/grass/reeds planted on benches.
9.18 The edges of all cut batters should be levelled back wherever possible.
Figure 2 — Construction of benches to improve sight distance and the stability of road batters.
Road Visibility
9.19 Visibility is the minimum distance ahead, which a driver should be able to see in his or her own traffic lane. All vehicles using the forest roads should have their headlights on.
9.20 At road intersections, a minimum visibility of 30 metres along all roads shall be maintained where practicable.
9.21 Road intersections, wherever possible, should always be at right angles or as near as feasible, even though it may be necessary to introduce a curve prior to the intersection to achieve it.
9.22 All curves should be kept at the maximum possible radius achievable, circular in shape and with minimum super-elevation.
9.23 Wherever feasible and particularly where successive tight curves are in opposite directions, intermediate stretches should be reasonably straight and for a distance of at least 20 metres.
9.24 On tight curves, where visibility standards cannot be adhered to, extra widening of the curves should be applied wherever possible.
Road Drainage 9.25 Proper drainage is essential for the maintenance of all harvesting roads and tracks.
9.26 All roads and tracks must be adequately drained to minimise erosion and to avoid the movement of sediment into streams.
9.27 Cross drains and turnout drains should be constructed at regular intervals as required to reduce surface flow, particularly in steep country where frequent diversions are necessary to reduce the volume and velocity of run-off.
9.28 Roads should have adequate camber and side drains (V drains) to direct water off the road surface towards dispersal points.
9.29 Drainage on roads approaching a watercourse should be prevented from entering the watercourse by diverting it through cross drains or turnouts into the adjacent vegetation as close as possible to the watercourse while maintaining an effective filter strip (one which ideally allows a minimum of 30 m of drainage over vegetated ground before entering the watercourse).
9.30 Silt traps should be used where necessary to prevent sediment entering streams.
9.31 Except for the initial stage of road construction and drainage, machine blades must not be used to remove road surface material. This does not include minor repair work or that which will not further excavate the road. Any fill must be deposited in locations that avoid the entry of sediment into streams.
9.32 The use of hydraulic excavators is encouraged on steep or erodible slopes.
Figure 3 — Use turnout drains or culverts to divert run-off into vegetation and away from streams.
Table F — Maximum spacing between cross-drains for roads
Gradient of road Maximum distance between drains (metres) Low erodibility soils High erodibility soils 0–9° (0–16%) 150 40 9° (>20%) 50 30
Note: Drains should also be installed at major changes of slope and within 50 metres of watercourse crossings.
Figure 4 — Silt traps can be constructed as sediment ditches or barriers made of straw or other vegetation to filter run-off from roads.
Stream Crossings
9.33 Stream crossings are potentially the most hazardous sources of stream sediment.
9.34 The number of crossings should be minimised.
9.35 Crossings should be carefully located to minimise disturbance to stream banks.
9.36 All crossing locations and types should be shown on the Harvesting Plan.
Figure 5 — Roads should be located to avoid steep side cuts and approach stream crossings at right angles where possible.
Permanent Crossings
9.37 Bridges must be constructed to allow for free flow of water underneath during normal (one in 20 years) flood events.
9.38 Construction and maintenance activities must be planned and conducted so as to minimise the risk of sediment entering streams.
9.39 Where possible, crossings of designated streams should be located at right angles where stream channels are straight and have well defined stream banks.
9.40 Approaches to a bridge should be of straight alignment with level gradient for a minimum distance of 15 metres either side wherever possible.
9.41 Large rocks, sandbags or logs must be placed on the upstream side of the foundation to reduce erosion. All fill must be similarly stabilised or re-vegetated to minimise slumping and erosion.
9.42 Where earth and gravel is used for paving bridges, kerbs should be installed to contain such material.
9.43 Culverts with adequate fill may be used on small streams where peak flows are not extreme. The culvert size must be designed to cope with catchment flow and should be no less than 300 mm diameter.
9.44 Where the road is constructed using the ‘cut and fill’ method, culverts should not discharge over fill material unless flumes or non-erosive materials are used below the outlet to prevent erosion.
9.45 The use of hydraulic excavators is encouraged during the construction of bridges, permanent crossings and culverts to avoid soil erosion and the collapse of the stream banks.
Figure 6 — Bridge embankments should be protected and stabilised with vegetation or heavy duty materials such as rock or logs
Temporary Crossings
9.46 Approaches to temporary crossings should be adequately drained to prevent run-off flowing directly into the stream.
9.47 Crossings should be located on sites with stable streambed material and where bank restoration will be possible.
9.48 Construction activities should be timed to coincide with dry weather and low stream flows.
9.49 Ford crossings should only be constructed over stable gravel material.
9.50 Log crossings must be constructed as a temporary log bridge allowing free flow of water.
9.51 Log clusters with soil fill are not permitted as crossings.
9.52 Temporary crossings must be removed to allow unimpeded stream flow as soon as operations over the crossing are completed or before the wet season if operations are not completed. The streambed and banks must be restored as near as possible to its natural condition.
Road Metalling 9.53 The ultimate aim of metalling is to provide a durable, all weather surface which will provide an acceptable level of travelling comfort and safety and have sufficient inherent strength to withstand expected loads and weather conditions.
9.54 Before any metalling is carried out adequate grading of the road must be undertaken to ensure that:
- •the prescribed construction widths and drainage systems are maintained;
- •a suitable and even surface is formed to accommodate the metal;
- •the camber and super-elevation (if required) are formed correctly.
9.55 Metalling is generally not warranted for Category B roads. However, consideration should be given to the metalling of sections where necessary because of steep gradients, erodible soils or other values.
Public Access — Government Roads 9.56 Any construction from or on to a public road must be approved by the relevant authority having responsibility of that public road.
9.57 Harvesting activities from within the Road Reserve should have prior approval of the relevant authority, and any condition set by the relevant authority must be incorporated into the Harvesting Plan and adhered to.
9.58 Road haulage vehicles used to transport forest produce; heavy plant, and road construction material shall comply with all regulations prescribed under the Land Transport Authority. All loads must be safely secured with approved load binders to avoid any movement in transit. Load and vehicle limits must not be exceeded unless the necessary approvals have been obtained from the Land Transport Authority.
9.59 The logger and/or cartage contractor shall erect approved temporary signs where log haulage vehicles enter onto public roads and provide warnings of any potential safety hazards. The logger/cartage contractor shall provide additional traffic control in high hazard situations.
Road Closure 9.60 Roads may be closed to haulage vehicles when in the opinion of FHCL damage to the road formation or its structures may occur.
9.61 The logger and cartage contractor must take reasonable precautions to avoid causing damage to the road infrastructure and must cease haulage before major damage occurs.
9.62 Roads shall be kept open to essential traffic during the course of harvesting operations.
Road Maintenance and Repair 9.63 During harvesting and haulage operations, the licensee and harvesting contractor(s) will be responsible for the maintenance and repair of roads and associated infrastructure, including bridges and signs.
9.64 Road edges, drains and silt traps must be cleared of harvesting debris and maintained in good working order at all times during operations.
9.65 Road metal should be routinely maintained during the course of heavy traffic usage and log loading to prevent road deterioration.
Figure 7 — Control roadside vegetation only to the extent necessary to keep the road surface dry, to permit good visibility and for weed and fire control purposes. Soil disturbance on batters should be avoided.
