Wolfpen Pleasant Hill Road is closed after high waters caused half of the southbound lane of the road to wash away.

Wolfpen Pleasant Hill Road is closed after high waters caused half of the southbound lane of the road to wash away.
By Kelly Doran
Sun staff

A March 14 landslide caused about 100 feet of Wolfpen Pleasant Hill Road to wash away, forcing the county to close the road.

Drivers wishing to use that section of road have to take a detour utilizing U.S. 50 and state Route 131, said Clermont County Engineer Pat Manger.

The high water eroded the stream bank, which caused a section of the road to wash away, Manger said. About 100 feet of the southbound lane near 5311 Wolfpen Pleasant Hill Rd. is gone, leaving the guardrail and posts hanging.

To repair it, Manger believes it would be best to put in a drilled pier wall, which involves drilling holes through soil into bedrock and filling the holes with concrete to construct a retaining wall, he said.

The wall will need to be about 300 feet long, Manger estimated. After the wall is built, the road will be repaired.

He hopes the road will be opened the beginning of June, Manger said.

The process will go faster than normal, because this is considered an emergency. The county does not have to put the project out to bid, Manger said.

Manger is hoping to be awarded emergency funding from the Ohio Public Works Commission, who sets aside money every year for emergencies such as this, he said.

He asked the OPWC for $288,965, the estimated cost of repairing the road.

“We’re pretty optimistic that this emergency funding will come through,” Manger said.

If the application is denied, however, Manger will need to find another funding source.

Originally, Manger hoped open the northbound lane to traffic as a one-lane road, but after doing soil investigations he does not believe the road is secure enough, he said.

“That area is just too unstable,” Manger said.