Part of the west bank of Hatcher Bayou under the bridge on Kemp Bottom Road is sliding into the channel, threatening it and damaging an adjacent railroad trestle, forcing city officials to take action to determine the cause and fix the problem.

City Public Works Director Garnet Van Norman said the problem was reported by Entergy, which operates the Baxter Wilson power plant at the end of Kemp Bottom Road off Warrenton Road. He said engineers with Stantec were asked to examine the problem.

“Further inspection from Stantec shows a huge slide has taken out a railroad trestle and is compromising the bridge,” he told the Board of Mayor and Aldermen Tuesday. “We’ve got to do something; it’s their (Entergy) only way in or out, although they do have emergency access if it fails, which it might. I’ve been working on this since last week.

“Right now, we’re trying to figure out what to do,” he said.

The board approved a resolution declaring an emergency to repair the problem. The declaration allows the board to hire an engineer and contractor without having to go through the bid process. It hired Stantec to begin looking at the problem. Van Norman said the company will hire Jackson consulting engineers Burns Cooley Dennis Inc., which specializes in problems like the slide.

In another road matter, the board approved a $28,704 change order in the city’s contract for the Wisconsin connector road with Dirt Works.

Van Norman said workers ran into a problem with a section of poor soil where the road goes up a hill to intersect with Wisconsin Avenue. He said workers had to dig about 4 to 5 feet down to remove the soil, install a fabric liner and replace the dirt with good soil.

The change order increased the project price to $995,639.50, which remains within the $1.3 million budget for the project.