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Mountain Coal Company, L.L.C. Exhibit 51 <br />West Elk Mine Lower Refuse Pile <br />• 7.0 ROADS <br />7.l RealignmentofSylvesterGulchRoad <br />The construction of the lower refuse pile required the realignment of existing Sylvester Gulch Road at hvo <br />different locations. Initial relocation occurred at the south end of [he project early in Phase I. .4 short <br />stretch of Sylvester Gulch Road was relocated to the east to create sufficient space for the construction of <br />the subsoil stockpile. .4t the end of Phase 111 and prior to beginning construction of Phase IV, the <br />realignment of Sylvester Gulch Road w•as extended further to the north [o allow coal waste to be placed <br />above the existing alignment. A plan and profile sheet and cross-sections have been provided in Appendix <br />M (see Figures LWP-015, LWP-OI~A and LWP-016). The alignment contains eleven horizontal curves <br />and two vertical curves. The design contains a short section with steep grades reaching but still meets all <br />the requirements of Rule 4.03.1(3)(a-c ). Specifics of the design can be found on sheet LW'P-019 (see <br />Appendix M). <br />During Phase V, portions of the SylvesterGulch road were relocated and the entire road upgraded to a haul/ <br />access road for access to the Sylvester Gulch Facilities Area. Details of the road construction are in Exfiibit <br />69. <br />To further increase the protection of the waste pile from erosion by flood events on Sylvester Gulch. <br />oversize material (eighteen inches and larger) from stripping operations can be placed alone the east side of <br />the Sylvester Gulch Road realignment. See Section?.I. <br />7.2 Access Roads <br />Following Phase Ill and prior to beginning construction of Phase IV. a section of the access road located on <br />the slopes above the waste pile was relocated. The new alienment joined the main mine access road <br />approximately 1100 feet to the west. A plan and profile sheet, as well as cross-sections, can be found in <br />Appendix N (see Fieures LWP-017 and LWP-018). In order to avoid the difficultiesofconstructing stable <br />fills on the extremely steep slopes in this very steeply sloping environment, the road template consisted <br />entirely of cut. The original design for the access road in the "upper location", which was a steeper area, <br />had cut slopes of I.~H:I V and a safety factor of approximately 1.4 (assuming dry• conditions). The <br />constructed design was located in the "lower location" and was cut in less steep terrain under dry conditions. <br />Therefore. [he constructed access road had a higher factor of safety than the original desien in the "upper <br />location". The revised access road design was approved on August ?8, 1989 under Minor Revision No. 66. <br />The access road drainace system is shown on the Phase I V figure The drainage ditches are'_ feet deep with <br />3H:1 V side slopes. The ditch was constructed to handle the 100-year design Flow. Flows were routed [o <br />Sylvester Gulch. The access road was cross-sloped at a one percent grade so that water collecting in the <br />road will drain into the ditch as shown on [he access road cross-sections(see Figure LWP-018). <br />7.3 Relocation of the Waterline <br />A previously existing hvo-inch diameter steel waterline. known as the Tony Bear Pipeline, and owned <br />entirely by MCC followed the existing alignment of the Sylvester Gulch Road and passed beneath the <br />proposed waste pile. Prior to Phase l V, the line was relocated and the portion extending beneath the refuse <br />pile was plugged and abandoned. The water from the Tony Bear Pipeline was rerouted upstream of the <br />LRP to discharge into Sylvester Gulch. This permitted the maintenance of existing water rights (see Table <br />• 33 of the MRP). <br />34 <br />