Hidden hazard : Council to tour damage behind Center Street closure
Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008
BROOKE McNEELY Northwest Arkansas Times The Fayetteville City Council will examine this collapsed wall of the drainage tunnel underneath Center Street on Thursday. City officials closed a section of the street a week ago after deciding the damage made it unsafe for travel.
The Fayetteville City Council has a damp field trip on Thursday.
Aldermen are examining the cause of the week-long closure of a section of Center Street, between West Avenue and University Avenue, by touring an underground drainage tunnel.
A quick exploration into the tunnel explains why the city closed the section. A bit of a creek runs into what looks like a cement tunnel for about five feet; the tunnel then turns into what looks like Roman catacombs. Just to the left of when the cement meets these brick arches is a caved in wall, and a glance straight up lets the viewer see exactly what the underside of street cement looks like, a 2-foot patch about 6 inches thick peeks through the dirt.
City Engineer Ron Petrie said the city became alerted to the possible danger when a citizen who was exploring the tunnel gave him a call.
"It goes all the way to Dickson (Street )," Petrie explained about the tunnel.
The exposed cement is the visual danger, but Petrie pointed out that the brick arch tunnel, which runs for about 40 feet before going back to a more contemporary cement tunnel, has no real support.
"We don't have any record to nail it down," Petrie said about the older part of the tunnel. "I'd say it's approaching 100 years old."
There's no specific reason the wall collapsed or the supports fell through. Petrie said the heavy spring and early summer rains probably played a hand in the problem.
At the council's agenda setting meeting on Tuesday Petrie told the council that he'd be happy to show them around one of the oldest parts of town.
"I'll bring the flashlights; you bring the boots," he told aldermen.
Mayor Dan Coody encouraged the council to check out the street's underbelly and noted that it was a good thing the street was closed.
"If a school bus were to hit this, (the bus ) would disappear," he said of the streets weak part.
Petrie said that construction to repair the street and make it safe would take about two weeks and that a complete overhaul of the tunnel would take six weeks.
Petrie said he would request a bid waiver at the council meeting Sept. 2 but that in the meantime he would begin soliciting price quotes on the project so construction can start as soon as the council approves the project. He said the exact cost of the repairs would not be known until the tour at 4: 30 p.m. Thursday.
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