Dirt slides down an embankment near Tucker Road and Tiffentown Road. Warren County is spending $50,000 in state-aid funds to redesign dirt banks on Tucker Road. (The Vicksburg Post/MELANIE DUNCAN)

[04/04/01] Warren County is spending $50,000 in state-aid funds to redesign dirt banks on Tucker Road that have been sloughing.

The area of Tucker Road between Bovina and Freetown roads was paved in 2000 using a $565,000 state grant. But in the process of widening and straightening of the road, vertical banks were created along the roadside, county engineer John McKee said.

“The soil in Warren County is mainly loess soil, which can stand on a bank pretty easily,” McKee said. “The design was for cut banks and you usually just cut them vertical.” Loess bluffs were created here by prehistoric dust storms.

McKee said when the project was near completion last fall, deterioration started.

“They did not hold well,” he said. “The southern end was not all loess soil, but had clay in with it as well, which caused the banks to slough.”

Lampkin construction crews began working on the banks after the weather cleared to put them on a slope.

McKee said that without work, eventually the dirt would clog drainage ditches and damage the pipes.

The reconstruction of the banks should be completed by the end of the week, weather permitting, McKee said.

Mary Francis Farrar, who lives on Tucker Road, said she saw the banks sliding and is glad workers were brought in before any serious problems could occur.

“I’m satisfied with what they’ve done out here,” she said. “It seems to be really good. I appreciate them working so hard.”

Farrar said the newly paved road is a vast improvement and is much safer than before because there is an increased number of vehicles traveling Tucker Road daily. “It’s getting like I-20 out here,” she said.