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Submitted: Old Zebulon Road at Powder Creek
Submitted: Milner Road off of Bottoms Road
Hwy 109 bridge photo courtesy of Randy Holliday.
Almost All Roads Are Reopened
ZEBULON - Pike County roads have been affected by the tremendous amount of rain that we have received here in December. It has torn up roads, washed out culverts and closed bridges in our county. The Georgia Department of Transportation and Pike County Public Works have been busy working on roads, culverts, and bridges in their respective jurisdictions.
These are the roads that are currently closed in Pike County: Nazareth Church Road between Glover and East Milner Road and Johnson Road. Look at the pictures below to see what the county has had to deal with as a result of over 11 inches of rain during the month of December.
Updates are listed below in date order from the most recent to the oldest. Thank you to everyone who has sent me pictures and kept me up to date so I didn't have to run all over the county to get pictures!
Update 3.8.16:
Reid Road opened up this past week and looks fantastic! [Note from the Editor: I was in a hurry that day so I didn't get any pics. Feel free to send some to me and I'll put your name on them.]
As of right now, Nazareth Church Road is still closed (3 culverts are out there) and a culvert on Johnson Road is being replaced right now. Johnson Road should be open in the next week or so. After that, shoulder work will begin on Williamson-Zebulon to finish up that project and then shoulder work will begin other roads to get them finished up.
Update 2.15.16:
Campbell Road is now open.
Update 2.2.16:
The Highway 109 bridge is reopened for traffic!
Update 1.29.16:
Milner Road reopened today. County Manager John Hanson advised at Tuesday night's County Commission meeting that Nazareth Church, Reid Road, and Campbell Road remain closed but the pipes are on site now. Public Works will move to fix these roads ASAP in the order given here.
Update 1.19.16:
I went to the Hwy 109 East bridge today to see how it is progressing. The boards are going up so they can pour the concrete for the footers that will hold up the bridge. They are hoping to pour the concrete in the next several days with the weather permitting. The next step will be doing the backfilling of dirt that will also be a part of holding up the bridge. Then the road can be laid over the top of it. Thanks to representatives of Pine Valley Concrete Company, Inc. for allowing me on walk on the bridge today to get pictures and update the public on the progress of the bridge!
There are new pictures of the Hwy 109 East bridge and Reid, Nazareth Church, and Campbell Roads below this article.
Update 1.16.16:
[Note from the Editor: This is from the January 13, 2016 County Commission meeting.] Seven roads closed at one time because of the rain. Two roads have been opened already. Millwood and Old Zebulon should be open by Friday. Culverts were delivered yesterday. There has been a lot of work on potholes and cross drains. They have changed the blade on the scrapers and the roads look better. Move to Nazareth and Reid Road next with Campbell Road after that.
On Campbell Road, there is a dam that is directly against the right of way so they can solve the problem of an old timber bridge that made the dam fail and our culvert fail too. The old timber bridge had been covered many years ago. We are going to work with the owner and make changes that will be good for years to come.
[Note from the Editor: This is additional info from the County Manager Report. Thanks to CM Hanson for making this available to me every week.] Public Works crews have worked extended hours scraping roads and working to get Bethany Church Road open. Cross drains and driveway pipes have also been replaced on roads that were not closed by have had "significant water issues" during the rain. They have been prepping Old Zebulon and Millwood for repairs [Old Zebulon is now open-1.14.16]. Millwood is currently open but only has one lane open to traffic and no bus traffic is allowed. Nazareth Road is next followed by Reid Road and Campbell Road.
Update 1.8.16:
I spoke with Dane Bishop from GDOT at 11:45 a.m. today about missing signs and the barricade complaint that has been brought up at Hwy. 109 and Hwy 19. He told me that the bridge out signs and barricades are being stolen. (Unfortunately he said that this is a normal occurrence and not just Pike County, but really, people?!)
I asked about the way that the barricade is set up at Hwy 19 and 109 with only one lane of traffice and was advised that this is how they are required to block the road so that 18 wheelers know not to turn there. On a lighter note however, WORK BEGINS ON THE BRIDGE ON WEDNESDAY and shouldn't take more than a few days.
Update 1.6.16:
Bethany Church Road reopened today. Public Works is working to restore the other closed roads as well. Pike County Times will keep readers up to date on this process.
Thanks to Randy Holliday for this picture of the Hwy. 109 bridge today. I talked to Dane Bishop from GDOT late this afternoon and was advised that they are bidding out the project now. If all goes well on the process and the weather cooperates too, they are hoping to start sometime next week.
Kudos to Pike County Public Works for making sure that people don't drive over this bridge. There is a section with NO dirt under it--just pavement holding to pavement--that could collapse and drop someone into the creek!
Pike County Public Works is working to restore access as quickly as possible as well as working to fill potholes and fix our roads (all 174 miles of them) as quickly as possible. If you see a problem area, please report it to the Pike County Board of Commissioners' Office at 770-567-3406. They have a list that they can add it to so Public Works can get it taken care of. P.S. Please be nice when you call. They are doing all that they can as quickly as they can--and being ugly isn't going to get things fixed any quicker.
Update 1.4.16:
Dripping Rock Road has reopened.
Update 12.31.15
Hwy 109 East is shut down about the middle of the road (close to 14288 Hwy 109 by Williams Mill Road and Rex Yerkes' house) because a bridge is compromised. Pike County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director Jimmy Totten examined and closed it off this afternoon. Pike Public Works contacted the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and GDOT shut it down due to heavy erosion under one of the girders on the bridge.
Dane Bishop from the DOT is the State Aid Coordinator for our region and there are 31 counties in his region. He advised today that this is the only bridge shut own in those 31 counties; however, the Governor has declared Troup, Harris, and Macon Counties as State of Emergency areas.
Coordinator Bishop advised that there was so much water trying to get through this creek bed that it created a turbulence that just washed away the dirt under one side of the girders holding up the bridge. The other side of the bridge shows a washed out area that looks like a whirlpool from where the water came through so quickly and eroded that side of the creek. He said that this was typical in 1994 when the flood came through. Bishop advised that GDOT workers will have to rebuild the bridge from the bottom up after the New Year to ensure that it has a stable foundation once again. This process shouldn't take more than a few days if the weather will permit the work to be done.
Roadblocks were going up this afternoon. Local traffic will be allowed to go to their homes, but no one will be allowed to go over the bridge. GDOT will work on the bridge after the New Year and build it again from the bottom up. Special thanks to Jayne Midura whose husband saw the bridge when he was out walking and then they passed that info along to the county so the state could be notified!
County Manager John Hanson advised by phone today that Pike County Public Works will try to start scraping roads all over the county next week as the weather permits. There are 174 miles of roads in the county and all of this rain has made our roads a mess. Please be patient as they get our roads back into shape.
Update 12.29.15
According to the Georgia Experiment Station's Bledsoe Research Farm rain monitoring, Williamson received 11.17 inches of rain over the past month with 9 inches of that falling in the past week. Rain has continued to wreak havock on our roads because of the many creeks and streams that run through our county.
The Flint River has been running high as well. According to the National Weather Service, the Flint River in Molena reached a little over 32 feet on December 26, 2015. Minor flooding in agricultural and wooded areas downstream from the river gage near Highway 74 began at 22 feet with water levels reaching the foundations of a house on the left bank when it reached 24 feet.
Flood stage was reached at 28 feet with an expansion into the natural flood plain including the locations with elevated homes that began to see water underneath them. The river continued to rise to over 32 feet before beginning to shrink back into its banks. The water level is at 21 feet there today. The National Weather Service is predicting that the water level will rise to 25.6 feet before falling under 20 feet after the first of the year.
Hopefully things will begin to start drying out soon.
County Manager John Hanson advised today that damage has been assessed and replacement culverts have been ordered. However, Pike County Public Works cannot begin the process of replacement until the weather cooperates and the water recedes. "Opening will be top priority," he said.
Update 12.25.15
As of today in Pike County, Nazareth Church Road, Reid Road, Old Zebulon off Roberts Quarters Road, Old Zebulon Road at Powder Creek, Campbell Road, Milner Road, Bethany Church at Dunbar Road are closed. Dripping Rock Road at Elkins Creek is also closed until the DOT can inspect the bridge.
There are more photos at the bottom of the page. Thanks to Pike County Public Works and Director Todd Goolsby for working to keep us safe on Christmas.
Update 12.24.15
Waters have receded at most locations in Pike County though Old Zebulon Road at Powder Creek is still out of its banks and in the roadway. Dripping Rock Road at Elkins Creek is still out of its banks and will be closed until the DOT can inspect the bridge. Milner Road off of Bottoms Road, Old Zebulon off of Roberts Quarters Road, will be out of service until the culvert is replaced. Reid Road, Old Zebulon off Roberts Quarters Road, Old Zebulon Road at Powder Creek, Campbell Road, Bethany Church at Dunbar Road are closed. Dripping Rock Road at Elkins Creek is also closed until the DOT can inspect the bridge.
Dunn Road at Pitts Road has reopened.
Nazareth Church Road between Glover and East Milner Road is closed. The culvert has been compromised and the road has been undermined. Pictures are below this article. Old Zebulon at Powder Creek and Milner Road off of Bottoms Roads remains closed. Details for them are above.
Use common sense when you are on the roads and do not drive over a place in the road that has water on it because you may end up in a sink hole where the water has washed the dirt away from the culvert but left highway over the top of it. (We had a situation like this after the last round of heavy rain.)
I will continue to update this page as road closures are announced. Many thanks to Public Works Director Todd Goolsby and his crew for their work in the county and for getting the word out so quickly.
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Pictures from Hwy 109 as of December 31, 2015.
These are pictures from Friday, January 15, 2016. The work has begun!
Photo taken January 19, 2016.
Photo taken January 19, 2016.
Submitted: These are two pictures from Nazareth Church Road on Christmas Eve.
Submitted: Nazareth Church Road on Christmas Day.
These four photos are of Nazareth Church Road on January 17, 2016. Photos by James Watts.
These photos are of Reid Road on January 17, 2016. Photos by James Watts.
Submitted: This is Roberts Quarters Road when it was closed on Christmas Day.
This is Roberts Quarters Road later in the day on Christmas Day. Photo courtesy of Mandy Beverly.
Allen Road off of Piedmont.
Potato Creek Bridge on Piedmont Road.
Potato Creek at Ruffner Road.
Dripping Rock Road on Christmas Day courtesy of Donna Sheain.
10 Mile Creek on Christmas Day courtesy of Sheila Mathews of the Grip.