CARBONDALE, WV (WVNS) – The West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) has nearly completed an emergency causeway to help 10 families trapped on Carbondale Road.
WVDOH road crews from Fayette and Nicholas counties have worked long hours to respond to flood damage in Carbondale, Smithers, Cannelton Hollow, Gauley Bridge and other communities hit hard by heavy thunderstorms earlier this week. Governor Jim Justice declared a State of Emergency for Fayette and Kanawha Counties, and the WVDOH has responded quickly and efficiently to the situation.
On Carbondale Road, WVDOH road crews are putting the finishing touches on an emergency causeway to free nearly 10 families who were trapped after the Carbondale bridge washed out. The causeway, made of gravel over a series of culverts, is expected to be finished by the end of the day today, August 17, 2022.
The causeway will serve as a way in and out until a new bridge can be built.
District 9 Engineer Jim Moore, P.E. said about 120 WVDOH workers from Fayette and Nicholas counties were working to clear roads and help local families all across the affected area. Fayette County crews, clearing mud from the southern end of the mudslides, and Nicholas County crews, working down from the north, were making good headway clearing the mudslides when more heavy rains came through on the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022.
“All of these folks are putting in long hours, 12 hours a day or more, just trying to serve these communities, where we live, too.”
District 9 Engineer Jim Moore, P.E.
“The Cannelton Hollow area and WV 16 were our hardest hit areas. WV 16, going from Gauley Bridge up the Nicholas County line, originally had six pretty major mudslides that came down into the road. Even though we had the roads cleared up, the ditches and the pipes were still clogged, so all that water had nowhere to go. It flooded the road again and caused a huge new mudslide to come down.”
District 9 Engineer Jim Moore, P.E.
On Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, road crews were working aggressively to combat the latest mudslides and concentrating on clearing ditch lines and culverts to divert any new rain that could undo the work that has already been done.