NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WDRB) – Driving along Interstate 64 in New Albany, you've likely seen construction work near the southbound lanes the last few years.
“It’s loud. It vibrates the whole house. We've had pictures fall,” said one neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous.
Crews from the Indiana Department of Transportation are fixing a 12 ft. by 12 ft., 910-foot-long box pipe that helps with drainage along the interstate. The pipe failed in December 2015.
INDOT spokeswoman Natalie Garrett the aging pipe failed after an influx of rain.
The structure was 52 years old. At the time, homes in the area were dealing with flooding issues. But now another problem is taking over, the neighbor said.
“The jackhammering and drilling -- we started getting cracks in our drywall," she said. "Our floors started collapsing some. Our kitchen is at an angle now. There's so much damage.”
After the failure, INDOT soon made an emergency repair. Garrett says work to construct a permanent fix began in March of 2019. The agency said it’s completely replacing the structure section by section. It first had to design the $3.7 million project, budget for it, and then, Garrett said, crews ran into some problems.
“They’re about 40 or 50 feet down along a steep grade. That makes it kind of difficult to get equipment down in there," she said. "They've hit more rock than they anticipated. So that's been a challenge."
And neighbors said they’ve noticed.
“Yeah, it's kind of like an earth quake,” the neighbor said.
INDOT says the work is 70% complete and is expected to be finished by spring.
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