Forest Service Road structure standards
Last updated on August 14, 2025
The standards for Forest Service Road structures such as bridges, culverts, cattleguards, road closure gates and retaining walls are determined and managed by the Government of B.C. These standards address issues such as design, fabrication, installation, inspection and evaluation.
Bridge standards manual
The Bridge Standards Manual provides mandatory design, construction and evaluation standards for FSR bridges and major culverts.
Bridge standards library
The Bridge Standards Library is a collection of non-mandatory bridge and major culvert reference materials.
Cattleguards, road closure gates and retaining walls
The B.C. Government has FSR structure standards for cattleguards, road closure gates and retaining walls which are provided on this webpage. More Standards applicable to these structures, as well as standards for other structures such as minor culverts can be found in the Engineering Manual.
Cattleguards
Cattleguards are barriers used to prevent domestic animals and some wildlife from passing along roads, while allowing the passage of vehicles and pedestrians. The three cattleguard documents below are primarily applicable to FSRs, however the documents may be used, modified as required, by the B.C. Government for other roads, including highways.
- Cattleguard Requirements and Specifications (DOCX, 48KB)
- Standard Cattleguard Drawings (PDF, 1.8MB)
- Installation Guidelines for Cattleguards with Ground Sills, Dec 2019 (PDF, 791KB)
The following Quality Assurance (QA) Inspection documents apply, when specified, to cattleguard supply contracts managed by the Ministry of Forests. They do not apply to Ministry of Transportation and Transit cattleguard supply contracts.
- In-plant QA contract: Schedule A-Services (PDF, 461KB)
- Fabrication Quality Assurance Statement - Cattleguards (DOCX, 53.6KB)
- Notice of last QA inspection - Cattleguards (DOCX, 54.2KB)
Road closure gates
The Government's standard FSR road closure gate drawings are relatively new. Feedback on the fabrication, installation, and performance aspects of the gates can be submitted to the Government at FLNREng.Branch@gov.bc.ca
- Standard Road Closure Gate Drawings FULL SET STD-G-010 (PDF, 981KB)
- Guidance for Ordering Road Closure Gates (PDF, 226KB)
- Gate Material Requisition Template (DOCX, 66.8KB)
Retaining walls
In addition to FSR retaining wall design and construction standards in the Engineering Manual, the B.C. Government has the following FSR retaining wall design aid:
- Two High Segmental Concrete Block Retaining Wall - November 2021
Contact information
Please direct any comments, suggestions or questions to the Ministry of Forests Engineering Branch.
250-387-1300