US-199 PATRICK’S CREEK ROCKMESH RAISED DRAPERY

After the Smith’s Complex fire in 2023 the US Forest Service BAER (Burned Area Emergency Response) model and Cal Fire predicted heavy rockfall impacts in this stretch of US199. The heat of the fire and many downed trees brought the first of many rocks onto the highway. This slope has 3 major chutes that are almost ephemeral channels. Carlson’s Construction was contracted to install a raised drapery system to mitigate the rockfall hazard from these chutes and from source areas further up the slope. This needed to be completed before the winter monsoon season.

Maccaferri RockMesh, a single layer rock netting with equivalent performance to cable net attached to DTWM was the key to completing the project on schedule. Maccaferri was able to quickly powder coat black and ship nearly 95,000 sqft of RockMesh 3030 to the project site. Caltrans District 1 has successfully used RockMesh 3030 product since 2012 at various locations such as the large, pinned drapery near Happy Camp, on SR-96.