A project to replace damaged culverts on the Bureau of Land Management Sacramento River Rail Trail gets underway Tuesday, Oct. 9. Access will be limited during the work that may take up to six weeks to complete.

“Because we need to excavate the entire trail surface in multiple locations, we will restrict public access from the Keswick Dam Trailhead north to the junction near the Rock Creek Trailhead, a distance of about three miles” said BLM Redding Field Manager Jennifer Mata. The trail will be impassable while construction is underway. The Rail Trail will remain open between the Rock Creek Trailhead and the Shasta Dam trailheads.

Most recreation trails on the east side of the Sacramento River will remain open during the repair project, with the exception of the FB Trail, which was heavily damaged by the Carr Fire. Recreational trails in the Swasey, Cloverdale, Middle Creek, and Clear Creek Greenway recreation areas also remain open.

In the Rail Trail project, the BLM would be replacing more than two dozen culverts that were burned by the Carr Fire.  Mata said the BLM aims to complete the work before the rainy season begins, because properly functioning culverts are critical for carrying runoff water under the trail surface, thus preventing washouts.

The project is one of many to be undertaken in Carr Fire stabilization and rehabilitation efforts. A recently completed Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation Plan calls for projects along 150 miles of BLM recreation trails. Work will include tree felling, bridge replacements, new sign installation and fencing to block access to old mine shafts exposed when the fire burned away vegetation.