News
Highway 465 at Eagle Lake today
Kevin McGee with MDOT gave the Vicksburg Daily News a ride down the closed part of Highway 465 so we could show our readers what is going on and why the roadway has not opened.
We learned a lot, saw a lot of problems and did our best to document them here for you. Here, in pictures and videos is what we saw:
The above 20-second video shows what 45,000 cubic feet per second of water drainage look like passing through the control structure at Steele Bayou.
MDOT crews have been steadily repairing roadways. Almost all of the roadway is repaired except the areas still blocked by floodwaters.
The soil along the roadway is sloughing and scarping away. All of it can be repaired.
The abutment on the corners of every bridge along Highway 465 had to be repaired. Some were filled with concrete, others with dirt.
The concrete drainage pipe in the culvert has crumbled after 4 months of being underwater. The pressure of the water shooting into it and then out of it while being submerged did it in. All the culverts are in danger of doing this.
This 15-foot deep hole is the result of a failed drainage pipe under the road. This issue exists all along Highway 465 from Highway 61 to Eagle Lake.
Kevin McGee with MDOT explains the issues remaining with Highway 465.
This area is the main problem area. Engineers cannot check the integrity of the roadway until the floodwaters go down in the field on the left.
The water flowing out of this culvert has eaten away at the ground above it. This area cannot be repaired until the water goes down. This damage and structural concerns related to this culvert, in particular, is the main reason Highway 465 cannot be opened.
Damage to the roadway that cannot be repaired until the floodwaters go down.
Kevin McGee with MDOT shows one of the main areas with damage from being underwater for 4 months. “This area can be repaired, but we can’t get to it until the water goes down” explained McGee.
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