Road damage caused by trucks hauling dirt to and from Mississippi Valley State University’s football stadium has Leflore County officials concerned.
Representatives of Johnson Construction, the contractor hauling the dirt, met with the Board of Supervisors Monday.
The contractor agreed to patch spots it has already torn up and to alter its route so that it covers only about half a mile on paved roads instead of three to four miles.
The board also instructed it to load trucks with only 57,000 pounds, which is the limit for the road, instead of 80,000 pounds. Board Attorney Joyce Chiles also requested that the contractor check to see if it has a road bond, which the county could call to recoup damages.
County Engineer Robert Willis said the road is built to handle 22.5 trucks per day carrying 57,000 pounds.
But currently Johnson Construction has seven trucks loaded with 80,000 pounds delivering 15 to 20 loads each daily. That’s more than 100 trucks per day at well over the road’s weight limit.
The contractor said its trucks had created some holes but added that the road already had some existing damage. Board President Wayne Self, who said he rides the road every day, said there was some damage but there’s a tremendous amount more now.
County Administrator Sam Abraham, County Engineer Robert Willis and Road Manager Lennon Powell met with the contractor about the road damage last week.
Abraham said he didn’t want to shut the project down because of Valley’s tight schedule to get ready for football season.
The university is trying to finish a $5.5 million project to rebuild the east-side bleachers at Rice-Totten Stadium before the Delta Devils’ first home game on Sept. 3.
The deteriorated condition of the now-torn-down old bleachers forced Valley to play home games last year 40 miles away at Greenville-Weston High School.
The contractors are excavating five feet of dirt the length of the stands and dumping it in a field. They’re then taking back seven feet of dirt to put underneath where the new bleachers will be built.
Glenn Williamson of the construction company said they’re planning to be done moving dirt within a week or two.
The trucks will now be going up County Road 513 to CR 167 along gravel roads instead of using Murphy Road, which is paved. Williamson also promised they would carry only 57,000 pounds, although Supervisor Robert Collins pointed out that the county can’t enforce it because it doesn’t have any scales to weigh trucks.
A Valley spokesperson said this morning that the changes made by the county will not affect the completion date of the project or incur a change order. The university still plans to host football games this year on the Itta Bena campus.
Phil Wolfe said it’s going to cost somebody money — either Leflore County taxpayers or the contractor and university.
Willis said it’s an issue in every county about who’s responsible for damage to roads and that there’s no easy solution.
Powell said he would be re-routing county trucks to ensure the construction company couldn’t say damage was caused by the county.
Williamson said he would need to see what specifications the county would want the road built back to before agreeing to fix it once the streets are done. He said he would inform the university about the changes today and look into whether his company has a road bond.
Collins said the county may have to consider shutting down the project if the company doesn’t have a bond.
“That’s something we don’t want to step on right now, shutting it down,” Self replied.
•Contact Charlie Smith at csmith@gwcommonwealth.com.
