Silt and sand carried by runoff from heavy rains over the past few weeks are causing drainage problems along North Washington Street in the northern part of Vicksburg.

North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield, who is over the public works department, said the problem involves runoff from property on the east side of North Washington, which carries silt and debris across the road and into the culverts, clogging them up.

He said there are several problem areas on North Washington, but the most serious is on the east side of the road across from the North Washington/Waltersville Road intersection.

City water department employees were at the site Wednesday with a pump, diverting water from a pool of water covering the clogged culvert to a drainage ditch a few feet away on the same side of the road. Another crew was there Thursday to pump the water out again.

Mayfield said fixing the problem will require more than removing water.

“They’re going to have to go down probably about 20 feet to get that thing opened up, and after they’ve done that, with all that dirt and sand coming from off that hill, they’re going to have go in there and try to rock that whole thing (put rock on the slope) to keep that dirt from going in there and stopping that thing up.”

Depending on the depth, he said, opening the culvert could be done by city employees. If the opening is below 10 feet, the city will have to hire a contractor, because it does not have the equipment to work in areas deeper than 10 feet.

“They won’t know (how deep the opening is) until they get further. Right now, they’ve go so much water coming off that hill, you can’t really get down in there and dig,” Mayfield said. He said the water was pumped out of the area Wednesday, but refilled overnight with water at “street level” Thursday.

“It keeps running, and what we’re doing is trying to keep it from damaging that (Entergy) substation there. Once it plugs up one area, it finds another direction. So it either comes across the road it’s going to run over to that Entergy substation, then you’ve got some serious stuff.

“That’s why we’re working diligently to get down in there and open and see if we can get to that main drain, and if we can get to it and get it open then we can go from there to rock that whole area to slow down that water flow and that debris.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen in November signed a $243,711.50 contract with Riverside Construction of Vicksburg to make drainage improvements on North Washington Street and the Kings community.

The board in February approved a $38,000 amendment to the contract to fix four other problem areas in Kings. Presently, Mayfield said, some of the work has stopped because of the flooding in Ford Subdivision and Kings.

He said he and South Ward Alderman Alex Monsour have also talked with landowners on the east side of North Washington, and met with representatives from the Kansas City Southern Railroad.

Mayfield is also trying to identify landowners on the west side of the street from Faulk Steel Road south to Ford Subdivision to get permanent easements to fix and maintain drainage areas.

“We want to get in there, clean those areas out and line them with riprap. We’ve got a lot on our plate, and we’re trying to get it done,” he said.