United States Department of Transportation
i
Testing new technology to restrict wildlife access to highways : phase 2.
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2016-06-01
[PDF-2.61 MB]
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Abstract:In wildlife mitigation systems, the weakest link is often the wildlife exclusion barriers at vehicle access points in wildlife exclusion fence (8 feet, 2.4 m high). The objective of this research was to evaluate the ability of electric pavement installations to reduce mule deer breaches into wildlife exclusion fenced areas of highways. Along Interstate 15 (I-15) a three-foot (0.9 m) wide strip of electric pavement was placed in front of an existing single cattle guard at an access road at an interchange to improve its effectiveness in deterring mule deer from entering the I-15 corridor. Installations of six-foot wide (1.8 m) electric pavement were placed across two road locations at wildlife fencing ends; one on US Highway 89 (US 89) East of Kanab, and one on US Highway 191 (US 191) south of Monticello. Camera traps were placed at the edges of all three installations to evaluate mule deer interactions with the pavement installations and evaluate pavement effectiveness. Overall, electric pavement treatments were 46 to 50 percent effective in deterring mule deer from entering fenced areas of highway, similar to single cattle guards in their effectiveness in deterring mule deer from entering fenced road areas (53 percent). The cameras at the fence ends at US 191 and 89 documented ten times more mule deer in the right-of-way than were documented moving near the electric pavement. Recommendations include exploring wider widths of electric pavement, delivering electric shock at the edge of the pavement and asphalt, and evaluating if such barriers are needed. UDOT should continue to use double cattle guards and wildlife guards as the preferred wildlife barriers at fence ends and access roads along wildlife fence.
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