RISON - County Judge Jimmy Cummings said the Cleveland County Road Department may have found the reason there were so many washouts along county roads during the heavy rain that hit parts of the county of Jan. 2: clogged culverts.
Cummings discussed that issues and several others during a meeting with Herald editor Britt Talent on the "Cleveland County Weekly Review" radio program hosted by KQEW 102.3 FM in Fordyce. Talent hosts the live radio show each Thursday at 11 a.m.
In addition to county roads, Cummings also discussed the Woodlawn Commuity Park lease, the old Cleveland County Nursing Home/Hospital Property, and county finances during the interview.
When the subject came up about making road repairs after the Jan. 2 floods, Cummings said he feels they may have discovered what caused many of the washouts that took place across the county, and it was something they learned while cleaning up a major washout on (continued from page 1) Mt. Elba Road south of Rison.
Initially, Cummings said they thought the culverts there at collapsed, causing the washout.
"We thought we were going to have to shut it (Mt. Elba Road) down for a couple of weeks or so," Cummings said. "But after the water went down, and we got the brush away from it, we realized that the pipes were still there." What said both large culverts, which were old railroad tank cars with the ends cut off to form a culvert, were clogged with debris. He said one culvert even had a tree inside it with a trunk that measured about 18 inches across. Cummings said they checked another location where tank car culverts were used, and those were about half full of debris.
Cummings said he at first anticipated a lengthy delay in reopening Mt. Elba because he felt it would take some time to find two culverts to replace the two tank cars that were being used. However, with the pipes still in place, the culverts were cleaned out and the road was re-opene...
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