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| So many bridges and culverts have been affected by the double dose of rain storms that Daviess County Commissioners cannot begin to name them all from memory.
There’s a bridge out on County Road 337, two culverts gone on Key Avenue, two bridges out on July Avenue, one west of Jamesport and one east near the Grundy County line, and gravel roads off of Highways TT and CC around Pattonsburg are still being worked on from the first rains. That’s just to name a few. “There are about a dozen culverts damaged, some totaled,” said Commissioner David Cox. “We’ve got a bridge on 337. A tree hit the bridge and wedged under there and made a brush pile that lifted the deck.” Two major headaches were caused by the first deluge of three to seven inches of rain (10 inches in the Jamesport area) that hit the region June 29-30 — a wash-out on Saber Road in the southeast part of the county and a washed-away bridge on July Avenue in the northeast part of the county. Both were completely repaired — right before another torrential rainstorm on July 12-13 washed them out again. On July 13, the National Weather Service had emergency managers report rain amounts of three to seven inches for a large part of the region and Daviess County was again placed in a flood warning. The first inundation of rains in June took out the approach to the July Avenue bridge, but left the crossing itself. The county fixed it and had it in good shape. First big chunks of rock, called rip rap, was put down; then land owners allowed clay off their land to be scraped off and that was packed in; then small rock was put on top. The fix lasted about 12 hours. Then came the second torrential rain storm on July 12. Now there is a big tree where the nice, new bridge used to be. “We don’t really know what we’ll do now,” said Commissioner Cox. “We don’t really have a plan. This time it took the crossing out and maybe a water line. We’ll have to see about our options.” He noted that the July Avenue bridge had held since it was put in place 15 years ago. These summer rains are the first time it’s needed repair. The road dead-ends but the land owners have vehicles they want out and the farmers have crops needing sprayed. The Jackson Township loaded rip rap, gravel and clay around a tube to fix the hole in Saber Road when the June rains turned it into a ditch. It was fixed by Wednesday, July 12. After the storm on the evening of July 12, the road remains drivable, but a chunk has been taken out along one side. Commissioner Cox said ‘spec sheets’ would be run to determine if the tubing is the right size. County commissioners are swamped. Commissioner Cox said, “We have no dollar amount yet; we’re continuing to drive around and assess the damage.” |