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Photo courtesy of Pike County Public Works.
Photo courtesy of Pike County Public Works.
Photo courtesy of Beth Andrews Bruce.
By Editor Becky Watts
ZEBULON - Old Zebulon Road has been closed for quite some time as the county contracted with McLeRoy to replace culverts beneath the road. The work has been quite extensive, but it is coming to a finish as the right hand picture sent to Pike County Times by Beth Andrews Bruce shows.
The problem began with a phone call to Public Works that there was a possible issue on Old Zebulon Road with a dip in the road that shouldn’t be there. Public Works Director Todd Goolsby checked out the road and found that something definitely wasn’t right.
Goolsby inspected the two 102 inch pipes and found that the deterioration was so bad that the bottom of both were rusted completely out, and the stream flowing through them had washed dirt from around the pipes that caused the road above them to undermine.
“While initially there were no other signs other than the dip, everything from the surface appeared ok but it wasn’t ok,” said Goolsby. “There was nothing under the four inches of asphalt--just a huge void.”
The photo in the middle shows the damage that could not be seen from on top of the road until the road actually fell in.
The photo of the road with a hole in the asphalt was taken by Goolsby after the road was closed and following a night of rain. “If I hadn’t closed the road someone would have drove across this, and I’m sure it would have been a bad accident.”
Goolsby said that while this road closure has been inconvenient for many citizens in the area, these culverts needed to be replaced in order for the road to be safe. The process has been long, but it is almost complete.
McLeRoy was going to try to finish with backfilling on Monday and begin final grading and dress up of the site on Tuesday. Goolsby advised commissioners and the county manager that he will meet with McLeRoy on Tuesday to do a proof roll to check compaction in preparation of repaving the road.
Goolsby anticipates the Public Works crew moving in on Wednesday or Thursday in order to prepare for the repaving of area. The road could open as early as next week.
Thank you to McLeRoy for working to get this project done as quickly as possible! This is going to be several weeks before the July 15th bid deadline.
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