infrastructure

The culvert that collapsed Saturday under a Byron resident and his two children while out on a bike ride was scheduled to be replaced this summer, said County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens.

"I don't think any of us realized how bad it was in terms of being rotted out," Hens said. "We did a visual inspection, but I wasn't going to crawl into a two-foot pipe, but you can never tell without getting in there. The middle was in a lot worse shape than we thought."

Byron-Batavia Road between Griswold Road and Walkers Corners Road will be closed for two weeks while the culvert is replaced.

The cost of the replacement is approximately $50,000.

"Mother nature and time beat us to the punch," Hens said.

The husband of Korinne Haymon, who contacted The Batavian about the incident, said her husband and their two children were on a Saturday afternoon bike ride when the culvert gave out from under them. 

Mr. Haymon was pulling a bike carrier with their 4-year-old and 7-year-old riding along when he decided to stop out of curiosity and look at a small hole by the side of the road. It was about the size of a groundhog hole.

As soon as he put his foot down, the ground gave way.

The 7-year-old was able to jump over the hole "like Superman," Korinne said.

As soon as he realized the 4-year-old had fallen to the bottom of the hole, Mr. Haymon jumped to the bottom and he was able to lift the child over his head and push him out of the hole. He yelled for the child to move away from the hole. Then he pulled the bike and carrier the rest of the way into the hold and use it like a ladder to climb out.

"He said every time he grabbed earth, it was just crumbling," Korinne said. "They were hysterical, like screaming."

Outside of some cuts and scrapes, nobody was injured.

"He was petrified," Korinne said. "He said he just keeps playing it over in his head but I told him to just focus on everybody is all right."

The children are doing fine, Korinne said.

"They just laugh about how my oldest Supermanned over the hole," she said.

Hens said in his 16 years this is only the second culvert to collapse. The other one was in Darien in 1998 or 1999 and rain helped wash out a sinkhole.

"Most of the time we're ahead of the game in identifying (culverts for replacement)," Hens said. "We wait for a dry time to check on them. It's unusual for them to collapse like that and just from a visual inspection point of view, we have ones that are way worse. It's an odd combination of weather, timing, cold weather -- all of that plays into it."

Contractors have begun road reconstruction work on the south end of Cedar Street, Batavia.

From County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens:

Byron Road between Griswold Road and Walkers Corners Road is closed until further notice due to a drainage culvert that has collapsed. The road is undermined and is a hazard to all traffic. County Highway will be investigating the scene for long-term repair options on Monday.

UPDATE 9 p.m.: The following photos and information were sent to us by Korinne Haymon.

According to Korinne Haymon, her husband was taking their two children out for a bike ride on Byron Road when suddenly, the ground crumbled beneath them. Their 7-year-old jumped out of the carrier, but their 4-year-old fell into the sink hole. Korinne's husband jumped in and got him out, but "he had a hell of a time getting out because the sides were crumbling," Hayman said. "Very scary!" The width of the hole is 15 to 20 feet, Haymon said. "My kids are so traumatized. We're just thankful everyone is OK." Haymon said they called the Highway Department rather than the Sheriff's Office because nobody was hurt.

State Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer announced today that the 2014-15 State Budget will provide an additional $40 million to help municipalities repair potholes and road surface damage caused by the harsh winter weather.

“While spring has finally arrived, the aftermath of a brutal winter still remains. There are still a significant number of potholes and surface damage all over the roadways. At the same time, the harsh winter has depleted municipalities’ budgets to repair roads,” Ranzenhofer said. “These investments will benefit towns and villages throughout Genesee County so that new infrastructure repair projects can be undertaken.”

The 2014-15 State Budget includes $40 million in Extreme Winter Weather Assistance Capital and $438 million for the Consolidated Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS). The new budget maintains a record level of funding for the CHIPS program for a second consecutive year. The 2012-13 State Budget first increased CHIPS funding by $75 million.

Breakdown: CHIPS/Extreme Winter Weather Assistance by Municipality

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) joined county and town highway superintendents to call for an additional $50 million in state funding to improve local roads and bridges. This funding is necessary to improve New York’s deteriorating local infrastructure, and will also create jobs related to infrastructure improvements. These roads cost each New Yorker an average of $1,600 in damage to vehicles because of roads in disrepair.

“After a particularly harsh winter, the importance of having well-maintained roads has become clear. We need to make sure that our roads and bridges are safe for the people who rely on them to go about their day-to-day lives. I stand with highway superintendents across the state in saying that our local roads do matter, and proper funding is critical to keeping them safe,” Hawley said.

Press release:

There are currently two water main breaks on Union Street near Robert Morris School and near the Notre Dame athletic field. Crews are on site to begin repairs.

Press release:

There is a water main break on Lyon Street between Richmond Avenue and Oak Street.  Crews will be making repairs, which may result in a water service interruption or discolored water on Lyon Street (Oak Street to Lacross Avenue) and Richmond Avenue (Lyon Street to Union Street).

UPDATE: The break was reported to be repaired about 1:30 a.m.

The city reports a water main break on Woodrow Road. Water service is currently interrupted on Woodrow between Main and West Avenue and on West Avenue between Woodrow and Union. Crews are on scene for repairs.

UPDATE: Water main repaired. Service restored at 9:30 a.m.

Press release:

A contractor will be making repairs on a private waterline on Bank Street near Ross Street on Thursday, Jan. 16th. This work may require the City water main to be shut down to complete these repairs. If a service interruption is required it will impact water service on Bank Street (between Chandler Avenue and Vine Street) and Ross Street (between Bank Street and North Street). Water service would be shut down after 9 a.m. until repairs are completed which may last several hours. This work may result in a period of discolored water in this general area after service is restored. Residents should check to make sure water clarity has returned before resuming activities such as laundry which may be impacted.

A private contractor is working on a water line on Center Street today. The line broke Saturday afternoon. The line runs into Center Street Smoke House and for most of the day, the city has been able to provide water to the restaurant. The restaurant is expected to be open for business this evening.

UPDATE: Water service was fully restored at 5:30 p.m.

The Griswold Road bridge over the Black Creek in the Town of Stafford has been reopened to traffic yesterday. The bridge was closed in the summer of 2012 due to its poor condition. Using federal aid, the County had a replacement designed by Barton & Loguidice Engineers and awarded a construction contract for the new bridge to Ramsey Constructors on Aug. 14. Construction took about 11 weeks to complete.

Recently many motorists have not been stopping at the Caswell Road -- Griswold Road intersection due to the bridge/road closure. With traffic flowing on Griswold Road again, motorists using Caswell Road are cautioned to make a full stop at the Griswold Road intersection before proceeding through the intersection.

Right now, it's just a big ditch, but eventually it will hold a sewer pipeline that pumps effluent from Pembroke to the the Corfu sewer treatment plant. The $1.7 million project provides for upgrades to the plant, providing Pembroke, the school district and the area's business parks created by the Genesee County Economic Development Center with needed wastewater service. The project is partially funded by Department of Environmental Conservation grants, GCEDC grants and ratepayers. Construction started yesterday.

Press release:

The water department will be repairing a water line on West Avenue this morning. This work may affect water service for residents on West Avenue, and Woodrow Road from Main Street to West Avenue during the repair. This work may also cause a period of discolored water in the immediate area so residents are advised to avoid activities such as laundry until water clarity has returned.

UPDATE 11 a.m.: The break is repaired.

Press release:

Phase 1 of the Cedar Street road reconstruction will be starting on Monday Aug. 26. Cedar Street will be closed to traffic from Edward Street to the north side of the Genesee County Highway Dept. drive. A traffic detour will be in place directing traffic around the project via Harvester Avenue. This road closure will be in place for approximately five weeks.

NOTE: I spoke with Guy Clark at Cedar Street Sales and Rental. His shop will remain open and accessible throughout the reconstruction process. He also said, "look for some fun events" during the next five weeks.

Press release:

On Tuesday, Richmond Avenue will be closed to traffic between Oak Street and Prospect Avenue beginning at 8:30 a.m. and lasting several hours for a water main repair before the paving project.

Every effort will be made to minimize the time that the road closure is in effect.

Residents in the immediate area may experience periods of interrupted water service that may cause discolored water in this vicinity, and should avoid activities such as laundry which could be affected.

Possible water interruption would include Richmond Avenue between Oak and Prospect, Oak Street from Richmond to Pickthorn Drive, and Pickthorn Drive.

City crews had Maple Street closed this morning for a water line repair.

Richmond Avenue, between Oak Street and State Street, will be milled Thursday and Friday between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Expect traffic delays while the work is taking place.

The following intersections will be subject to temporary closure during the work: Prospect Avenue, Ellicott Avenue, New York Place, Buxton Avenue and Verona Avenue.

Drivers are asked to not to park on the roadway during milling operations.

Residents and businesses will have access to their properties during milling work, but delays are possible when the work is being done in front of their properties.

All other traffic is asked to avoid the area.

The roadway is being prepared for repaving, which should take place in a couple of weeks.

Construction is well under way for the new $1.65-million water tower in Oakfield and if all goes to plan, it could be in use by this fall.

Every day there are from five to seven welders on the job constructing the 165-foot, 10-inch tower. The sections are pre-fab and then welded together on site. It took one day to raise the center column, two weeks to build the bottom half of the tank top.

The tower now acts as it's own crane to haul workers and material to the top.

Workers will begin installing the next sections of the top of the tower on Monday.

Clark Patterson Lee out of Rochester handled the design and engineering. Caldwell Industrial out of Louisville, Ky., is the construction contractor.

The pedisphere-design tank will hold 500,000 gallons of water once completed.

Press release:

A water main break occurred on Elm Street near Chase Park at approximately 7:30 a.m.  Crews are on site to begin repairs, and water service has been interrupted on Elm Street between East Avenue and Chase Park, and on Chase Park between Elm Street and Vine Street.

Residents in the immediate area may experience periods of discolored water as a result of this break, and should avoid activities such as laundry until water clarity returns to normal.

UPDATE 12:23 p.m.: Break repaired. Service restored.

A contractor is on Summit Street, Batavia, this morning working on the sewer system. A worker told me they were putting in a lining.