The two major washouts along Old Kiln Raod will be repaired by two counties.
The one that occurred in Hancock County between the intersections of N. Benville Road and Katie Drive was the largest of the two, but will receive a temporary fix first.
Hancock County Road Manager Vic Johnson said the board of supervisors met Monday to discuss how to handle the situation. The road handles a lot of traffic, so a temporary fix was necessary to open the road as soon as possible. Tuesday crews were out filling in the gaps left by the washout that occurred on Saturday.
Once the base is filled in again, crews planned to secure the culvert and rebuild the road. As a permanent fix the county is looking into replacing the culvert with a bridge. But to do that work Johnson said funding is needed. In order to find that funding the county intends to contact the National Resource Conservation Service, the Corps of Engineers and any other agency capable of providing funding. Johnson said that section of road is a state aid road, so funding through the state is possible.
The temporary fix will be county funded, Johnson said.
For years the county has been trying to receive funding to improve that part of the road.
“Maybe this will help speed up the process,” Johnson said.
To permanently fix the problem, a few solutions along with cost estimates are being drawn up by the Hancock County Engineer, who will bring them to the board for their approval.
In Pearl River County a lesser, but just as dangerous, washout occurred along Old Kiln Road. Pearl River County Engineer Les Dungan said the board approved declaring the matter an emergency situation, allowing him to move faster with receiving bids to have the problem fixed.
In that area a small section of the road collapsed just before a bridge. Dungan has two weeks to secure bids and then the board will award the project to set it in motion.
The work will include increasing the span, or the length, of the bridge. Dungan said the bridge currently has two spans, but the plan is to increase the length to three spans.
That means what was originally a 40 foot long bridge, will see an additional 30 feet added, allowing more water to flow underneath.
Dungan expects the bridge to be finished in the next two months.