Last week’s rainstorm has passed, but its effects will linger for at least a few weeks.
On Monday, Alaska Electric Light and Power said the Flume Trail boardwalk will be closed for two weeks. Hikers reported supporting timbers were washed out, and debris covers portions of the boardwalk.
The Calhoun Avenue bridge over Gold Creek also was closed Monday as engineers tried to examine its footings for damage after a nearby landslide.
Aurah Landau, spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Transportation, said the gate to access the bridge’s footings was blocked by debris, slowing the pace of assessment work.
Ed Foster of the City and Borough of Juneau’s streets and facilities department said by email that he doesn’t suspect the bridge is damaged, but engineers need to verify that before they reopen the bridge.
By phone, Foster said runoff was redirected underneath the bridge, possibly eroding the bridge’s footings, but that erosion lasted only about 15 minutes before a landslide plugged the gap and redirected the water back into the Gold Creek flume, where it is designed to run. Farther uphill, Foster said CBJ crews were removing slide debris from the end of Evergreen Avenue, which leads to the Flume Trail.
The Calhoun bridge, built in 1950, is located near the entrance to Cope Park and offers an alternative route to downtown Juneau from the Flats.
CBJ and state crews were kept busy Friday clearing culverts and ditches, and while they endured a cold soaking, they were generally successful in keeping stormwater from causing damage. Last week, a CBJ excavator removed built-up sediment from the Gold Creek flume’s catchment basin in Cope Park, just in time for that basin to absorb last week’s slides and rainfall. Foster said crews will again empty the basin.
Elsewhere, hikers have reported rock slides on portions of Perseverance Trail, but City and Borough of Juneau staff said the trail remains passable.
Debbie Driscoll of Alaska Electric Light and Power said “multiple slides and precariously leaning trees caused by recent storm damage” made the Flume Trail unsafe, and hikers are asked to stay away.
The slides came after a two-day soaking that set a record. On Friday, 2.01 inches of rain fell at Juneau International Airport, setting a record for Oct. 27. The old record, 1.27 inches, was set that date in 1952. Records have been kept at the airport since 1936.
The National Weather Service reported that between Thursday and Friday, 7.94 inches of rain was recorded at Eaglecrest’s Powder Patch measuring station, making it the wettest point in Southeast Alaska during the storm.
At Snettisham, 6.12 inches was recorded. In Douglas, it was 5.78 inches; 5.73 inches was recorded at Mount Roberts Tram, 4.27 inches in downtown Juneau, 4.06 inches in the Mendenhall Valley, and 4 inches even at Auke Bay’s Ted Stevens research lab.
The rain came as the remnants of Typhoon Lam formed an “atmospheric river” drawing moisture from the subtropical central Pacific Ocean.
After a sunny weekend, a more typical weather pattern resumed, with light rain over the capital city.
• Contact reporter James Brooks at 523-2258 or james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com.
