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Wul Eik Mine <br />The haul road is an all-weather road. Its 24-foot wide surface consists of seven inches of <br />road subbase, seven inches of road base, and three inches of pavement. The road has <br />maximum grades of 5 percent and 10 percent along the east-west and north-south <br />boundaries of the refuse pile, respectively. From the employees' parking area up to the <br />portal bench area, the road was constructed with a cross slope of two percent. The overall <br />vertical grade of this section is ten percent. <br />The West Elk Mine property is within 100 feet of the outside right-of-way of State Highway <br />133. Consequently, a variance was needed from the Colorado Highway Department to allow <br />the mine to encroach on this right-of--way. The Department has granted Mountain Coal <br />Company a variance from the minimum 100-foot spacing requirement. <br />Access Roads <br />The West Elk Mine has three access roads (Map 53). They are the silo storage road, middle- <br />mine facilities road, and Sylvester Gulch fan road. The lower part of the old haul road <br />comprises the silo storage road. The upper part of the old haul road serves as access road <br />to the middle-mine facilities, such as the crushers, water treatment plants, and other nearby <br />facilities. The Sylvester Gulch fan road provides access to the Sylvester Gulch fan site. <br />Vertical grades on the access roads vary. The silo storage road has an overall grade of <br />5.68 percent. The middle-mine access road has an overall grade of 6.85 percent and a <br />maximum grade of 12.18 percent. <br />The mine roads require relatively little surface maintenance. Holes and ruts are patched in <br />the early stages with a cold mix of composition similar to the original road mix. In addition <br />to pavement maintenance on roads, maintenance operations include shaping and sealing of <br />shoulders, cutting back or chemically treating weed and bush growth, maintaining ditches and <br />drains, removing litter, and repainting stripes. Snow and ice removal during the winter <br />months are a roadway maintenance priority. Parking and side areas are similarly maintained <br />for safe and efficient use. <br />Light-Use Roads <br />Mountain Coal Company neither constructed nor maintains any light-use roads at the West <br />Elk Mine. The haul road and access roads provide access to all mine facilities. Existing <br />Forest Service roads and roads constructed during exploratory drilling provide access to <br />monitoring stations not accessible from haul or access roads. <br />2.05-21 <br />~L ~ PA (~~ <br />