The Chief Joseph Highway extends northeast from the town of Cody, Wyoming and traces the trail that the Nez Pierce Indians, led by Chief Joseph, followed when they left their reservations and fled from the U.S. Cavalry in the late 1800's.
The highway leads to Dead Indian Pass above the Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone River. Erosion control and re-vegetation measures applied to newly-constructed slopes along the right-of-way in the fall of 1995 failed to persist through the winter. Various types of blankets and
bonded fiber matrix techniques were affected by winds in excess of 100 mph, by wildlife (bears, mule deer, elk) and by alternate freezing and thawing of the soil.
Weyerhaeuser Company, the manufacturer of the bonded fiber matrix used on the project, asked Mike Harding and Chuck Austin to investigate the probable causes of failure and to come up with innovative solutions acceptable to the Wyoming Department of Transportation. Working with Cowboy Contractors of Lovell, WY, the team developed site-specific mixtures of seed, mulch and tackifier.
The remedial applications proved very successful, and the key to success was the timely application of the materials to the slopes as soon as the snow left the area in the spring.
