Getting ''The Scoop'' On Mud

The flooding rains leave public works crews scooping the muck and mire covering area roads and clogging ditches.

The mess creates a serious driving hazard, so your public works department has been very busy keeping the roads and ditches open and safe.

One of them is Hamilton County public works employee Les Williams. We caught up with him and his crew as they were busy answering calls for service in eastern Hamilton County.

"This is about my eighth job this morning before lunch," Williams said at a job on Gamble Road.

Even though up to five-inches of rain fell many of the problems with flooded ditches and highways are caused by trash piled up along roadways and leaves that people rake into ditches..

"What I'm doing is all the leaves that have come out of the yards and woods has flooded down to the ditch tile, and what it does is it blocks them up so I'm uncorking the tile to release the water pressure," Williams explained.

Williams operates a track-hoe and dumps all the debris he scoops up into dump trucks that will haul it away. The rest of his crew uses hand shovels and pitch forks to clear problems. Sometimes they just have to get on their hands and knees and grab fists full of debris stuck in drain pipes.

Priority one is keeping your roads safe and passable by clearing away mud, rocks and tree branches. The slick mud can be just as dangerous as ice when cars move through curves and loose traction.

Williams and his crew are also handling situations called "driveway washouts," where water flowing down people's dirt and gravel driveways carries debris out to highways.

Williams' supervisor, Ben Wilson, said dozens of calls for clean ups have come into Hamilton County's public works' highway department. Inside the Chattanooga city limits the 311 Call Center has answered 59 drainage-related calls and 29 calls related to flooding like trees down or manhole covers that have washed away when stormwater floods sewer lines, according to city spokesman Richard Beeland.

Williams said what we need now is some sunshine to dry things out so crews can get the jobs done. But that will take time.

"At least through the rest of the week and probably next week, that's about how hard it rained to keep us busy," Williams said.