by Kevin Lilly
Pharos-Tribune news editor
May 20, 2009 11:15 pm
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Highway crews spent the days after Friday’s heavy rain repairing washed-out roads.
Jeff Smith, Cass County Highway project manager, said the damage was not as bad as they had feared following more than three inches of rainfall in less than two hours.
“We fortunately didn’t lose any bridge or pipes,” Smith said. “It could have been worse, but it was bad enough.”
One of the worst county roads was 300S between 50E and 150E, where water washed away portions of the hard-surface road around a pipe. A temporary repair was finished on Wednesday.
Most of the damage suffered occurred in an area Smith described as a corridor that included Clymers up through Logansport to Twelve Mile. He said several gravel roads partially washed out. The highway department has spent the week applying truckloads of gravel to trouble spots.
Smith said the delay in work on scheduled road maintenance cost them about a week.
“Every day that we are delayed is a day that we could be doing other things that need to be done,” said Smith, who assured crews would get caught up.
The Indiana Department of Transportation had crews out Friday night into Saturday morning addressing washouts on shoulders along highways. In Cass County, Ind. 16 between U.S. 35 and U.S. 31, Ind. 25 between U.S. 24 and the U.S. 35 bypass, and Ind. 17 between Ind. 25 and Ind. 16 sustained damage.
Logansport also experienced problems from the intense rain. Mayor Mike Fincher said several residential basements flooded, as well as multiple streets. At the Board of Public Works and Safety meeting on Wednesday morning, he said grass clippings in the streets contributed to the flooding because storm drains became clogged. Fincher asked city residents to do their part in keeping yard debris out of the streets.
“Since we never know when those rains are coming, I would encourage folks if they do have to blow the grass out into the street to please clean it up,” Fincher said.
Kevin Lilly is news editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at (574) 732-5117 or kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com
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