FDOT: Highway 97 Collapse Repairs Still In Planning Stage

June 20, 2014

Temporary repairs have been made to a collapsed road shoulder on Highway 97 in Walnut Hill, but so far there’s no date to begin permanent repairs.

Back on May 15, the shoulder of Highway 97 about a mile south of Ernest Ward Middle School collapsed in an existing 50-foot deep gully. Last week, the situation worsened, with part of the paved shoulder falling into the hole.

The Florida Department of Transportation is completing their damage assessment and working on preliminary cost estimates, FDOT spokesperson Tanya Branton said Thursday. Since the damage occurred after the flooding event that led to a presidential disaster declaration for Escambia County, repair costs for Highway 97 will not be reimbursed by FEMA.

On or about May 15, a  large drainage pipe travels under Highway 97 to the site of the collapse and then curved downward along the bank of the gully where it was designed to drain at the bottom. But the pipe apparently separated under the shoulder of the roadway, just beyond a guardrail, and blew out and undermined the shoulder of the road.

Crews used sandbags to shore up the shoulder on temporary basis back on June 13.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News