ASHLAND — A section of West Main Street in Ashland has been closed since June 30 and will remain closed as city crews address what appears to be a sinkhole issue, officials said.
The road is closed between Broad and Race streets.
Part of the road was dipping, and had become more noticeable in recent weeks.
Ashland Mayor Matt Miller said the issue is “several hundred feet” from where an underground bridge was replaced last summer.
The county paid for the nearly $1 million project, which involved removing an underground bridge, or culvert, and installing a newer and wider one. Work there lasted four months.
Ashland County Engineer Ed Meixner said he became aware of the issue in March or April when the city’s engineer, Shane Kremser, called him.
Meixner said he inspected what he described as an “obvious dip” in the road.
“I called (Kremser) back and I told him ‘I see where you’re talking about, but I don’t believe it’s our responsibility,'” Meixner said. “I did say that it’s growing. And I suggested he have someone check it out.
“It would require some digging to see what was causing that.”
What’s the cause?
Officials from the county and city aren’t sure what caused the dip in the road.
Miller said the city hired a crew to use radar to determine the cause, but results came back inconclusive. That’s why city crews have now dug into the road, he said.
“There are big areas where there are simply voids,” Miller said. “Something is washing out underneath the pavement.”
Meixner said that could point to a water leak in a stormwater pipe.
“That’s the only way (having voids in the soil) can happen,” the engineer said. Adena, from Mansfield, did the construction on the underground culvert last summer. He said those construction crews only worked on the west side of the bridge, or culvert.
The mayor thought perhaps the heavy equipment Adena used during the project “jarred” something loose underneath.
Meixner thinks that’s unlikely.
“That heavy equipment parked there is no heavier than anything traveling down the road. There are semi trucks that go past there everyday,” he said.
The bottom line
Miller said regardless of the cause, the bottom line is that the city is having to address the problem.
In the meantime, the road will remain closed. Miller did not have a timeframe on Tuesday.
Larry Paxton, the city’s finance director, said he wasn’t sure how much the project will cost.