Major repairs needed to fix State Roads 57, 157

By Anna Rochelle WORTHINGTON -- After White River floodwaters receded off State Road 157 east of Worthington, the highway remained closed due to the condition of the roadway. Directly above a culvert that runs under the road, large chunks of at least two layers of blacktop were washed away revealing an old concrete surface several inches underneath.

It may be August before traffic resumes.

The Indiana Department of Transportation is still evaluating the extent of damages done when a culvert bridge washed out over Simpson Ditch, just north of Prairie Chapel Church on June 5.

INDOT expects to have the evaluation complete and contractors contacted by the end of June.

However, INDOT spokesperson Cher Goodwin says repairs to the roadway will not be done and the road open to traffic until sometime in August.

"Our engineers are trying to get that all designed and put together," she said Wednesday morning. "We're just rushing through this as quick as we can. There are just so many things that are involved as far as getting a design concept, we're checking the hydraulics to make sure that whatever structure we build back there is going to sufficient for that area -- that size of ditch," she told the Greene County Daily World.

"We're looking at least the first of August before we're going to see traffic on it (the road). That's if everything falls in to place and a contractor just jumps in there and goes crazy with it."

While the roadway is closed the INDOT recommended detour is State Road 358 to U.S. 231 to Bloomfield.

Goodwin had better news for the damage done to State Road 157 -- between Bloomfield and Worthington.

"The design is in place and I believe contractors are being talked to and we hope to maybe in a couple weeks to have some work being taken place on that. Most likely, it will be the end of July before that is open to traffic," Goodwin stated.

Goodwin said those two roadways are only state roads in Greene County that have been adversely affected by the recent flood.

"We have some minor shoulder erosion and our crews have already went back in and replaced the stone along the shoulders that has been washed away and made any pavement patches that have been needed as well," she explained.

The INDOT spokesperson said she doesn't expect the road closure on State Road 57S to affect the ongoing $4.1 million Major Moves paving project on State Road 57 between the junction of State Road 54 and the town of Newberry.

The S.R. 57 project, being done by O'Mara Construction of North Vernon, encompasses the area between the town of Newberry and the State Road 54/U.S. Route 231 intersection (Lighthouse Junction).

Contractor's crews will mill the existing roadway, reconstruct and widen the stone shoulders an average of four additional feet, place approximately three inches of new pavement, improve several sections of guardrail, replace drainage pipes under the roadway and replace signs and mailboxes throughout the project.

"The contractor will continue to do his work as needed," she added.

"This (flood) should not interfere. The contractor will work with whomever is going to go in and build the bridge and coordinate it. This should not affect their operations."