One of the first things Vic Kelson does every morning is check the Ohio River’s current level. It’s information the Evansville Water and Sewer Utility executive director must know because the timeline to reopen Riverside Drive — disrupted since late February by a massive sinkhole — depends on it.
Pavement at Riverside Drive and Chestnut Street collapsed as the river climbed to historically high stages. After the Ohio crested at 48 feet or so, the utility hoped it would recede as quickly as possible. It was at roughly 23 feet as Kelson spoke to reporters at the sinkhole site on May 15, but the National Weather Service forecasted it could be back to 28 feet within a week.
The river level is critical, Kelson says, because sewer lines are located about 25 feet beneath the ground, and when the river is high, so is groundwater, and sandy soils that stabilize the ground become liquified.
Once crews are able to begin work, Kelson estimates that repairing the infrastructure will require several weeks once the river stage gets to a lower level and stays there.
Without knowing when that process can begin, Kelson says there is no way to determine exactly when Riverside Drive could reopen.
“There have been a number of questions about why it’s taking a while to get this done, and the short answer is the weather and the river,” Kelson says. “No one can work down there or even get into the hole until the river’s down to 23 feet.”
The utility faces other challenges beyond reopening Riverside to vehicles. Kelson says sand and rock falling into the sinkhole is flowing to the city’s East Side wastewater treatment plant “and it’s showing up in large amounts at times … it’s a big problem.”
Until the necessary fixes can be made, Kelson says the utility is “making sure things don’t get any worse …. the holes have been backfilled to stabilize them to keep the situation from degrading any faster. But we are monitoring the situation, and we are going to get it fixed as soon as we can.”
Kelson and Justin Guetling, EWSU’s deputy director of field operations, say they hear the frustration residents have about being unable to use most of Riverside Drive, a major Evansville thoroughfare that takes many people to work as well as to riverfront destinations.
“When you’re talking this size, this magnitude, the size of pipes we’re trying to repair, it’s going to take time,” Guetling says. “They’re deep. Safety is the number one concern. We understand (the frustration). We’re trying to get it done in a timely fashion, but you also have to take your time to really examine what is going on. So, patience is key.”
“We’re sorry for the inconvenience,” Kelson adds. “At this point, we’re doing everything we can. The main story is that we are at the mercy of the river and the mercy of the weather. And it’s spring, so the river’s going to tend to be high for a while.”
Flooding issues in the area have damaged the Masonic Temple at Chestnut and Southeast Third streets, says Troy Wilson, a resident who attended Kelson’s announced media availability on May 15. Wilson says he has tried without success to speak to the utility about the backfilling of drains surrounding the sinkhole, which he blames for water backups in the Temple’s basement.
Guetling and Kelson promised to speak with Wilson.
The utility’s bill for the Riverside Drive sinkhole will continue to rise. Kelson reports EWSU already has spent more than $500,000, and repairs will end up costing “a lot.”
