The City recently had to put a “Band-Aid” of asphalt on a sinking section of Eighth Street but will close the street next week to work on a permanent repair.
Sections of concrete failing between Russell, Pike streets
COVINGTON, Ky. – Eighth Street between Pike and Russell streets will be closed starting Monday so the crumbling and sinking concrete roadway can be torn up and replaced.
The work is expected to take about a week, depending on the weather, said John Purnell, supervisor of Right of Way Maintenance for the City of Covington’s Public Works Department.
Purnell said the repair will involve ripping out three or four sections of the road, making sure there’s a solid “base” of gravel underneath, and repouring the concrete. He said the repair was significant and could require 30 to 40 yards of concrete alone.
“The roadway has sunk,” Purnell said. “We repaired it two times over the summer and fall, but now we need to get in there before winter and get it repaired correctly. When there isn’t a solid base, the concrete moves, and when it moves, it tends to break up. And when it breaks up, water penetrates the roadway, and then it sinks.”
Just last week, one section of the road sank four inches and the City used about 2 tons of asphalt to “put a Band-Aid” on it, he said.
Cars will be detoured at the Pike and Eighth and Russell and Eighth intersections. But Purnell said he hoped to be able to keep the parking lot to the Market Lofts apartments on Eighth Street open to residents.
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