Slip repair in Kimblton could start first of the month
Guernsey County Engineer Paul Sherry will work with an Ohio company on an emergency slip repair on a section of Eighth Street (County Road 33) in Kimbolton, which is currently closed.
Ohio-West Virginia Excavating Company from Powhatan will perform the work located 690 feet west of the intersection of North Eighth Street and Plum Road in Liberty Township, for approximately $269,190.
The slip, according to Sherry, is a result of heavy rains.
"The soil becomes super saturated and it becomes heavy and exceeds the strength of the inner bonding layers and it slides," Sherry said.
The slip is in a residential rural area with low volume and no businesses. Sherry noted that the residents of Wheeling Township that are west of I-77 are probably feeling some impact. There is no detour, and most residents will have to go out to Guernsey Valley Road or past 541 to get around it.
County commissioners authorized the work last week, declaring it an emergency. According to Sherry, declaring the repair an emergency allows them to move forward with the contractor more quickly. Without the emergency declaration, the project would have to go out to bid and that could take up to 60 days.
The commissioners also approved a resolution last week granting Sherry the authorization to submit an application for participation in the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) State Capital Improvement and or Local Transportation Improvement programs.
According to the resolution, the emergency slip repair is considered a priority need for the community and is a qualified project under the OPWC programs.
Sherry said the county has received a pre-approval for grant assistance which will cover 70% of the repair cost. The county will also obtain a non-interest loan through the same program for 20% of the cost and then will pay the remaining 10%. Between the loan and 10% match the county's out of pocket expense will total 30 percent of the total project cost.
Sherry believes the grant approval will come back pretty quickly and they will be able to mobilize the contractor to begin the repair. He is hopeful the work will begin the first week of June.
Jeff McConaughey, assistant county engineer, said the repair work would take approximately three weeks to complete once Ohio-West Virginia Excavating is given the go ahead.
McConaughey said the slip has dropped a good bit and the road is a main north/south route in that area.
This isn't the first slip repair needed on this street. Last year, another section of North Eighth Street underwent slip repairs. That project was paid for with an 80% grant in the amount of $102,000 and a 20% match ($36,349) from the county.
"Most of Guernsey County is built on clay soil with very steep hills and meandering rivers so we get slips all over the county, but that particular stretch of Eighth Street is very close to the water's edge and has very high bluffs to the north so it happens often," Sherry said. "That's why the old Eighth Street bridge is closed."
This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Slip repair in Kimblton could start first of the month
