VDOT Estimates County Road Damage May Be $10 Million

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) estimates that roads and bridges in Fairfax County may have up to $10 million in damage from Thursdays storms.

Torrential rains and flash flooding last week dumped more than six inches of rain in a few hours. Roads that remained closed as of Sunday night include Eastbound Sunrise Valley near Glade, where a large sinkhole has formed, and Hunter Mill Road near Crowell Road, where the one-lane bridge has been washed out.

VODT is continuing to assess damage on secondary roads and the more than 200 country bridges.

“Our initial assessment indicates that there could be up to $10 million in damages to bridges and roads in Fairfax County,”  Garrett Moore, VDOT District Administrator for Northern Virginia, said in a statement. “We will make repairs as quickly as possible. We could even see more pavement and slope failures in the coming days, in addition to potholes.”

 Three bridges in Fairfax County were destroyed and will be replaced with temporary structures:

• Lorton Road over Giles Run will be temporarily replaced within two months. The posted detour route will be a little more than eightmiles long. This road carries about 6,000 vehicles a day.

• Beach Mill Road over Nichols Branch will be temporarily replaced within six weeks. Beach Mill Road carries about 1,700 vehicles a day. The posted detour will be approximately six miles long.

• Towlston Road will be temporarily replaced within six weeks. This road carries about 350 vehicles a day, and the posted detourwill be approximately two and a half miles long.

Plans were already underway to permanently replace each bridge that was damaged by the flooding. Construction for the permanent bridges on Beach Mill Road and Towlston Road is scheduled to begin in 2012, and a Fairfax County project for relocating Lorton Road, which includes a new bridge over Giles Run, is scheduled to begin in 2013.