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Roads, culverts wash out from heavy rain across Maine

Some portions of the state, like on Route 219 in Hartford, received more than five inches of rain over the weekend.

MAINE, USA — "You can't get there from here" may be a well-known saying in Maine, but following the recent rain storm, it's proving even more true. 

Numerous roads across the state are closed due to damage caused by several inches of rain over this past weekend. 

"A lot of places here we got five to six inches of rain," Tim Cusick, MaineDOT superintendent of operations for Region 3, said. 

Cusick's region was particularly hard hit by the recent storm and he anticipates crews working for weeks to repair damaged roads and culverts. 

"The water starts going over the road, and once it starts going over the road it starts eroding the shoulder. And then we start losing underneath the roadway, the pavement drops, and then we've got a big hole," Cusick said. 

On Wednesday, Cusick and his team were repairing a stretch of roadway on Route 219 in Hartford.

"This was all washed out, the hot top dropped three or four feet down in the ground. Gravel washed all the way down to the bottom of this hill," Cusick said. 

He anticipates the road reopening later this week. It's far from the only impacted road, however. More than 60 miles away in Limerick, another collapsed culvert has prompted a road closure on Route 11.

"The culverts can't handle the quantity of water, the water's got to go somewhere," Limerick Code Enforcement Officer Stan Hackett said. 

Hackett has been closely monitoring the Route 11 culvert, near Dog Road, for several years, and said this week's heavy rain forced it to give way.

"The road is breached, it's collapsed, so you can't pass. Any of the heavier traffic would more than likely go through the road," Hackett said. "Once the water starts overcoming the road, it undermines the road and ultimately pushed the culvert right out."

Hackett added it's still to be determined when the road can reopen. He said a new culvert will need to be installed temporarily, but the long-term solution is a bridge. 

Cusick and his team are urging patience among the public, and hope to address safety concerns and reopen roadways as soon as possible before returning to address lingering road damage.

"The main thing is to get them open for traveling right now. We're still going to have to go back to repair culverts, ditch lines, and driveways, but the main thing is to get traffic moving again," Cusick said. t

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