Rain and snowmelt washes road away in Covert Township

By Jason Overholt (joverholt@wsbt.com)

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Snow, rain and warming temperatures were all contributing factors in the total washout of a section of County Road 378, west of 76th Street in Covert Township. (Photo provided)

By WSBT News1

Story Created: Dec 29, 2008 at 3:39 PM EST

Story Updated: Dec 29, 2008 at 7:56 PM EST

COVERT TOWNSHIP — Crews in Van Buren County have an unexpected road project to work on.

Flood water washed away a major part of County Road 378, west of 76th Street in Covert Township. The missing section, near Brandywine Creek, covered a drainage pipe.

“That’s a confluence of seven or eight miles of county drain,” said Larry Hummel, engineer manager with the Van Buren County Road Commission. “They all merge at that point.”

Hummel says the snow, rain and warming temperatures were all contributing factors.

“Everything melted at once and tried to fit through a pipe that wasn’t big enough,” he said.

The road is a direct route for the Covert Fire Department to access I-196, but the water is still too high for crews to adequately work on it, according to Hummel.

Gas, water and telephone lines were reportedly exposed — “Just floating in the water and hanging in the air,” Hummel said. Various crews responsible for those utilities are also working to fix the damage.

“It took a lot of money and time to build it, and in a day and a half it’s gone,” Hummel lamented.

With the water level still so high, Hummel said it would probably take a couple of days to fix.

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