Ouachita Parish neighborhood battling sinkholes, $2.9M to replace damaged pipes

WEST MONROE, La. (KNOE) - The Ouachita Parish Police Jury is looking to replace damaged pipes causing sinkholes in a West Monroe subdivision.

People living in D'Arbonne Hills in West Monroe are seeing sinkholes appear in their yards and nearby concrete ditches. The parish engineer Kevin Crosby and police juror Toni Bacon, representing District A, took a ride Monday (Sept. 23) afternoon in different parts of the neighborhood to show KNOE where they were popping up.

Bacon said some residents have gone in and filled in their own holes in their yards, but when it rains, it appears again. Crosby explained how a major sinkhole in a concrete ditch appeared.

"So, this is one type of problem we have - where this is an old gunite line ditch that was built whenever unit two I believe, in the late 70s, was built in D'Arbonne Hills. What you have is - you'll end up with a small hole that comes in this gunite like some of the ones that are standing - the water eventually erodes and eats under it and then as that water continues, the force of it continues to lift it," said Crosby.

Bacon stated residents are concerned about potential injuries these sinkholes could cause if someone's foot gets trapped or if they cause changes to their property value.

"This is a neighborhood that's filled with not only small children that run and play, but it's also filled with a lot of elderly people, and to have sinkholes pop up literally overnight, in some cases, it presents a very dangerous situation for people," said Bacon.

The police jury says it's going to cost $2.9 million to fix and the costs may elevate, according to the parish engineer. Crosby said he plans to present phase I of this project to the jury by either Oct. 7 or Oct. 21, 2024, at the OPPJ meeting.