Workers for the Mississippi Department of Transportation could soon begin work to stabilize and repair an eroded area on the east side of the Culkin Road overpass.

Kevin Magee, MDOT Central District Engineer, said the problem was caused when someone removed some asphalt from a small ramp to allow water to drain from the area.

“It was supposed to be a dry ramp; no water was supposed to get through it, and somebody cut through it to drain water and it started eroding, and it’s just gotten worse over time,” he said.

Magee said the soil around the ramp is loess soil, a pale and loosely packed soil that is common in the Vicksburg area. When water is introduced to the soil, he said, “It just melts away.”

Magee said his office learned of the problem Wednesday and staff members have been to look at the problem. He would not, however, give a timetable when the work would begin.

He said he wanted another MDOT engineer who has worked with loess soil “and let him take a look at it and confirm what the game plan is, and once we get that done, we’ll mobilize and get started on it.

“We’ll have to confine the water and backfill and riprap and get everything to where it is stable. A lot of the time, kudzu covers problems like this up and you don’t see it. This had been going on for so long it got past the ground cover so we could see it.”