Temporary Repairs Made After Highway 97 Shoulder Collapse Worsens

June 14, 2014

Crews from the Florida Department of Transportation made temporary repairs to a collapsed shoulder on Highway 97 in Walnut Hill.

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. Sometime Thursday or early Friday, the situation worsened, with a part of a paved shoulder falling into the hole.

“FDOT crews are monitoring the site and adding material to provide a safe environment until a permanent fix can be made,” FDOT spokesperson Tanya Branton said Friday morning.

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.

There’s no word yet on when a permanent repair will be made.

Pictured top: FDOT crews make temporary repairs to a collapsed shoulder on Highway 97 in Walnut Hill Friday morning. Pictured below: Contractor Transfield Services surveys the collapse after it was discovered in mid-May. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

4 Responses to “Temporary Repairs Made After Highway 97 Shoulder Collapse Worsens”

  1. 429SCJ on June 16th, 2014 6:39 am

    Bulkhead the shoulder, then it will not erode.

  2. troubled on June 15th, 2014 6:35 am

    As the road is in northern end of county you are just going to have to wait for FIX. It goes along with us waiting for other parts of roads getting fixed. I live on !@@!@@! and trvel county rd. 99 daily and pot holes are out of control. There are some spots that if you stay toward center of road you are ok. They have been this way for at least a year and no one has been out to even check them. Just drive a little slower around this area on co.rd. 97 and maybe you’ll be ok.
    me just spouting off

  3. JSCS on June 14th, 2014 4:14 pm

    This is a very dangerous situation.
    Many, many vehicles travel that road every day and night.
    With all the accidents on hwy. 97 this is a very bad accident waiting to happen.

  4. mick on June 14th, 2014 12:37 pm

    If the problem had been addressed and fixed when it happened instead of the ” inspected and deemed to be safe to continue and use statement” we wouldn’t be reading this now. More rain and exposure to the elements of the damaged area would only erode this away at a faster rate, causing further damge and a more expensive fix. The thought process to delay repairing this by those individuals with the responsibilty to do it makes you wonder how they ever got a position of responsibility to begin with…