Gerald-Rosebud Firemen and Gerald officials received a 2 a.m. wake-up call early Tuesday. A culvert just north of Gerald on Wheeler Road was washed out during a heavy rainstorm overnight. City officials were notified because the culvert was located just north of the city’s waste water treatment plant.

The road was closed to traffic as city workers checked on the treatment plant. A man drove his vehicle into the washout before realizing it was there. He was not injured, according to a fireman who responded to the scene.

Public Administrator Nick Grube reports that there were no problems located within the treatment facility. The washout will affect how city workers access the plant as it is on the west side of the plant’s entrance. Instead of traveling down Route Y and then making a short trip down Wheeler Road, they must access it from the east.  This means traveling east of town to Old Highway 50, then west on Tegeler Road and finally west again on Wheeler Road.

Grube said Franklin County officials have told him it may be awhile before the culvert can be replaced. Apparently, the storm created more pressing issues for them to address in the Union area.

The culvert carries water to Cedar Fork Creek as it winds to the north.

According to the Franklin County Highway Department, the rain created problems in other areas of the county. A culvert pipe collapsed on Bucklick Creek Road near New Haven. A bridge on that road has had the weight limit reduced from 30 ton to 5 ton. Four Mile Road, St John’s Creek Road and Boeuf Lutheran Road are closed due to water over the road.