Faulkner County home losing ground

Corps-built ramp blamed as river digs under porch

MAYFLOWER -- A large, two-story house west of Mayflower is in danger of falling into the Arkansas River after recent flooding further eroded the riverbank.

The house is among about 12 houses on Jones Lane, between Lollie Bottoms and Mayflower.

David Hogue, attorney and spokesman for Faulkner County, said Thursday the back porch, which once had land beneath it, now has several feet sticking out into the air. "The bank of the river is up under the house by several feet," he said.

Hogue said, according to area residents, the problem resulted from a concrete ramp the Army Corps of Engineers built at the end of a dirt road leading to the riverbank several years ago. The corps built the ramp so big trucks hauling rocks to the area wouldn't slide into the riverbed, Hogue said.

"They bolstered the bank of the river but left that concrete ramp at the edge of [the homeowner's] property," Hogue said. "That created an eddy so that the water, instead of flowing straight by her property, it started swirling at the ramp. ... It's been there ever since, digging more and more dirt out of her yard."

In a statement, Laurie Driver, a spokeswoman for the corps, said corps representatives met with the house's owner, Sandra Dillon, last year "and explained that we do not have the authority to perform bank stabilization work for private landowners."

"In an effort to assist Ms. Dillon, we provided her with multiple agencies that may have been able to provide assistance with the bank stabilization," Driver added.

Driver said the Little Rock district of the corps sympathizes "with property owners and businesses along the Arkansas River during this historic flood."

Driver didn't want to address specific questions about the problem's history when contacted after normal business hours late Thursday.

Hogue said the river's current was so fast and strong earlier this spring, Dillon has now lost half of her backyard to the water.

"The bank is already eroding into the next door neighbor's house," Hogue said. "That eddy is just chewing up the land."

"The corps' position is that [it] can't go in and save private property, [that its] job is to maintain the traffic on the river channel," Hogue said.

Residents along Jones Lane fear the problem will worsen and their homes could be affected later.

Homeowner Jim Blissit told Little Rock's KATV the concrete ramp is "not a natural thing."

"It's not something that Mother Nature did. It's a man-made structure, and it's causing significant erosion. It'd be so easy to fix," Blissit said.

If Dillon's home does fall into the river, Hogue said, that in itself will cause other problems.

"One hard rain storm" could spell the home's demise, he said. "I don't know what it would take."

NW News on 06/22/2019

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