Culvert break forces road closure near Harrisburg

HARRISBURG, Mo. (KMIZ) 

A culvert break along North Route F near Harrisburg forced the closure of part of the roadway Monday evening after rushing water damaged the road surface.

The failure happened around 5 p.m. in the 17100 block of North Route F when water surged through a rusted pipe and caused several holes in the culvert. 

When ABC 17 News arrived, a resident was standing in the road, warning drivers not to cross. Part of the roadway also appeared to have already started to cave in, with residents claiming it was due to water damage. 

Missouri Department of Transportation crews arrived shortly before 6:30 p.m. and officially shut down that stretch of road, turning several vehicles around.

A resident said the culvert had been a concern for some time because of visible rust. He also said the area was partially flooded earlier in the day and that he could hear water pounding against the side of the pipe before it cracked.

“This is the highest I’ve ever seen it. Last year, there was something kind of like this, but it wasn’t near what we had today,” Harrisburg resident Zach Perkins said when asked about the flooding near the culvert. “It was about 4:30 or so whenever I was able to get down here, the old driveway up here was, say, about a foot and a half, 2 feet underwater.” 

Perkins added he could hear water pounding inside the pipe shortly before the culvert broke. 

The road damage came as waterways across Mid-Missouri rose following heavy rainfall. According to the National Weather Service, the Missouri River reached 23 feet at Boonville. Flood waters were also measured at 26 feet along the Missouri River at Glasgow, while Moniteau Creek near Fayette reached 19 feet.