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West E!k Mine <br />• There are three roads which are considered access roads only. They are the Three-sided Building <br />access road, the Portal access road, and the Materials Storage Bench access road. These roads have <br />been certified as access roads and the certificationsarea1so provided in Exhibit 8A. <br />Vertical grades on the hauUaccess roads vary. The middle-mine haul/access road has an overall <br />grade of 5.68 percent. This road is paved. The new silo haul/access road has a maximum grade of <br />10 percent and is gravel surfaced. The Sylvester Gulch hauUaccess road has been designed to have <br />an average grade of 7.6 percent with a maximum grade of 10 percent. This road will be surfaced <br />with 12 inches of compacted Class 6 road base. <br />The mine roads require relatively little surface maintenance. Holes and ruts aze patched in the early <br />stages with a cold mix of composition similar to the original road mix. In addition to pavement <br />maintenance on roads, maintenance operations include shaping and sealing of shoulders, cutting <br />back or chemically treating weed and bush growth, maintaining ditches and drains, removing litter, <br />and repainting stripes. Snow and ice removal during the winter months are a roadway maintenance <br />priority. Parking and side areas are similarly maintained for safe and efficient use. <br />Light-Use Roads <br />A gravel surfaced light-use road has been constructed around the southern and eastern perimeter of <br />the MB-2R sedimentation pond and around the base of the lower refuse pile for occasional <br />construction and maintenance equipment uses. Two short roads (approximately 150 ft. long) and <br />• associated pads have been constructed from existing mine site roads to provide access: for <br />emergency repair and maintenance along the C-I conveyor, to the water tank topsoil pile, to the <br />switchgeaz buildings above the portals, and to the powerpoles located along the west side of <br />Sylvester Gulch Haul/Access road and north of the Sylvester Gulch F-Seam fan. When these roads <br />and pads aze no longer required for operations, the roads will be graded back to approximate <br />original contour and reclaimed. The road between the ROM coal stockpile pad and the product coal <br />stockpile has been designated as a light use road. The overall grade of the road is 7.6 percent. The <br />road is surfaced with asphalt or roadbase. An existing road in the Lone Pine Gulch area has been <br />widened and graveled as a light-use road to access the Lone Pine Gulch fan site. This road will be <br />lefr in place at final reclamation to allow continued access for the landowners and lessees of the <br />area and is consistent with the approved post-mining land uses of rangeland and wildlife habitat. <br />A new light-use road to the water tank and to the Sylvester Gulch high voltage transmission line <br />was proposed to be constructed in the Spring of 1997. However, during 1997, construction of the <br />road was terminated at Landing #Z and the water tank road segment was not constructed. MCC <br />may elect to complete the construction of this road in the future. The road constructed, known as <br />the transmission line light-use road, supported construction access and will provide future <br />maintenance access to the transmission line and support structures. Other light-use roads for the <br />Sylvester Gulch Facilities Area include the electric borehole road, the ventilation shafr #3 road, the <br />degasification borehole road, and the powerline light-use road. <br />Existing roads constructed prior to the mine site which provide access to monitoring stations and <br />• other existing mine site roads not otherwise designated, will be utilized and maintained as light-use <br />roads. Some existing public roads (e.g. U.S. Forest Service, etc.) are utilized for access to <br />2.05-25 Revised Jan /996 RVl13; Revised NOV. 1996 PR07. Revised Jan. 199i TRi9: Revised hd. 1997 TR87 <br />Revised Oci. / 998 TR86 <br />