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THE ROAD TO RECOVERY
from 2022 Annual Report
by RESPEC
Restoring Access to Yellowstone National Park
In June 2022, a perfect combination of high precipitation and late snowmelt caused devastating floods to sweep across Yellowstone National Park. Swollen rivers swallowed entire road sections, stranding visitors and communities who rely on these roads as access points in the winter.
RESPEC’s Montana team, who has been working in the park on a bridge replacement project, shifted their attention to repairing the roads and getting access back before winter settled in. We teamed with Jacobs Engineering and Western Federal Lands to assess the damage and help with repair efforts. Jacobs Engineering worked on the road design; RESPEC focused on mitigating environmental impacts on the streams. Together, we integrated infrastructure resiliency to ensure longevity in future disasters.
RESPEC, Jacobs Engineering, Western Federal Lands, and Yellowstone staff combined efforts to design and construct the roads in 4 months— processes that often take several years. Now, the roads have been reestablished as access points for visitors and communities. When disasters like this happen, RESPEC and our partners pull together to get things done.
