AASHTO Journal - WVDOT Kicks Off State Road ‘Canopy Clearing Season’

November marked the start of “canopy clearing season” for the West Virginia Department of Transportation; an annual effort that cuts branches and brush that overhang roadways statewide.

[Above photo by WVDOT]

Canopy clearing is the act of cutting branches and brush that overhang the Mountain State’s roadways, WVDOT said, and it’s a vital part of the agency’s data-driven approach to long term highway maintenance and management. Eliminating shady areas along roads helps ice thaw more quickly in winter and rainfall dry more quickly from the road surface, WVDOT noted, thus prolonging the life of the pavement on West Virginia’s 39,000 miles of road.

WVDOT maintenance crews use bucket trucks, chainsaws, pole saws and chippers to clear away branches and limbs and grind them up. Bucket trucks have a reach of 40 feet, but maintenance crews have pole saws that are up to 175 feet long for reaching the highest branches.

“Water is a highway’s worst enemy [and] the canopy acts like a tent, literally trapping moisture on the roadway,” said Joe Pack, chief engineer of operations for the West Virginia Department of Highways; a division of the WVDOT. “Anything we can do to keep water off our roadways or to help dry up that water will prolong the life of that road.”

He explained in a statement that, by federal law, highway maintenance crews are only allowed to clear canopy between November 15 and March 31. The restriction is in place to protect endangered bat populations, which don’t typically use trees during those months.

In the past, the WVDOH was restricted to cutting a total of 140 acres of canopy a year, or 14 acres for each of the state’s 10 highway districts. In 2022, at the urging of WVDOT Secretary Jimmy Wriston, that restriction was lifted, allowing districts to clear as much canopy as possible provided they stay between the November-March time restrictions.

The first year the restriction was lifted, WVDOH crews cut over 500 acres of canopy by focusing on cutting during winter days when they were not actively clearing snow and ice. In 2023, the WVDOH said it cleared 573.40 acres of canopy; for 2024, the goal has been raised to 600.

While 500 or 600 acres of canopy may not sound like a lot when spread over 55 counties, the work is done along the sides of the road, not the middle of the forest, WVDOT stressed – and that 500 acres equals enough miles of roadway to stretch from Charleston, WV, to Myrtle Beach, SC.

More importantly – like cutting grass in the summer, milling and filling roadway potholes, or clearing ice and snow – Pack said canopy clearing is part of WVDOH’s “core maintenance” program, which helps prolongs the life of pavement and keep roads safer.